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This article discusses the background and context of development aid for the NBC surrounding areas, highlighting the geographic and economic endowments, as well as the economic and social vulnerabilities. It also identifies the growth pillars and the benefits of the Tripoli Special Economic Zone. The article further explores the supply of development aid, including targeted sector allocation and donor contributions. It concludes by discussing the implementation issues and the role of the Recovery and Reconstruction Cell in coordinating and monitoring development projects.
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Presidency of the Council of Ministers Recovery and Reconstruction Cell Towards an Effective Partnership:Development aid to the NBC surrounding areas Sateh Chafic El-Arnaout, PhD Chief Technical Advisor Director of NBC Recovery and Reconstruction Cell Presidency of the Council of Ministers sarnaout@gmail.com
Outline • Background & Context • Supply of Development Aid • The Development Partnership
Development of NBC Surrounding Areas Key pillar of both: government strategy at the Vienna donor conference; government policy of addressing under-served areas in Lebanon An influence area of 25 municipalities around the NBC was identified based on: impact of conflict; economic linkages; road network; topography
Geographic Endowment Trade Corridor: Located on current land and maritime and future rail trade corridors to Iraq and Gulf countries Energy Corridor: Located along land fuel supply line to the future Beddawi oil refinery Located along the future land gas supply line to the Deir Ammar power plant
Syria, Iraq & Arab Gulf North Lebanon 4 3 Tripoli 1 2 1- Public Investments 2- Domestic Direct Investments 3- Labor 4- Tripoli service sector 5- Foreign Direct Investments 5 Economic Endowment • Local economy that depends on commerce, agriculture and fishing • Important source of labor to regional economy in Tripoli and North Lebanon Beirut
Economic and Social Vulnerability Economic : Area heavily penalized due to direct and indirect losses from three major events: (i) closure of Syrian border and major access road during July 2006 war, (ii) 2007 NBC conflict and; (iii) 2008 conflicts in Tripoli Area generates modest economic activities (lowest ratio of loans to and lowest per capita consumption in Lebanon) Social: High poverty rate (38%) as well as high illiteracy & school drop-out rates Highest inter-governorate inequality in Lebanon (gap between rich and poor) & 2.3% of children are underweight Poor quality of social spending (teaching quality and absence of vocational training)
Growth Pillars Knowledge Economy: Expected to benefit from proximity to higher education services (Lebanese University) Benefits from proximity to medical services in Tripoli Traditional Services: Commerce Agriculture Fishing Manufacturing: Expected to better integrate in the regional economy and to benefit from Tripoli’s special economic zone Agriculture Tripoli Special Economic Zone
Tripoli’s Special Economic ZoneLaw enacted on September 5, 2008 Fiscal and Tax Incentives for companies registered within TSEZ: Custom duty and VAT waived for goods destined to companies registered within TSEZ. Income tax waived for companies registered within TSEZ. Construction permit fee and property tax waived for companies registered within TSEZ. Tax waiver for equity and bonds issued by companies registered within TSEZ.
Going Forward Projects to be aligned with the National Land Use Masterplan to be approved in December 2008 Projects to complement thearea’s Public Investment Program to be approved mid-January 2009 Projects to be sustainable and to have limited O&M fiscal burden on beneficiaries
Implementation Issues Sub-sector overlap: Local Economic Development Municipal Capacity Building Microfinance Etc. Varied methodological approaches Absorptive capacity of municipalities & recipient’s fatigue Sustainability of projects and fiscal burden on beneficiaries Abortive efforts by donors in project preparation
Role of Recovery and Reconstruction Cell Coordinates with Municipalities, Sector Ministries and CDR to identify demand Coordinates on a regular basis with Gate Keepers” and provides quarterly updates on development aid on a GIS platform Facilitates project cycle implementation by donors (Identification - Design & Implementation) Work closely with CDR and MoF to gradually hand-over monitoring mandate
Mapping of development projects Data analysis will report at the following levels: • Donor • Sector • Beneficiary population (Lebanese vs. Palestinian) • Municipality • Financial • Implementation progress • Major implementation constrains • Lessons learned • Impact