Support for the private sector in Lebanon: information session for the beneficiaries of component 2
Presentation of the Private Sector Development Programme
Toufic Dabboussi, President of CCIAT, Fawaz Hamidi, Director of BIAT, and Clément Devade, Project Officer at Expertise France, opened this event by welcoming the hundred or so participants and highlighting the importance of this programme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the sector in Tripoli, and for the economic dynamism of the region and the country.
The information session aimed to inform beneficiaries about component 2 of the programme (2016-2019, EUR 15 million). Bassem Hanna, Deputy Team Leader, presented the technical assistance team which has joined BIAT to provide its support to the implementation of activities. Stephen Fordham, a technical expert in the wood processing sector, and Fadi Hajjar, an expert in the management of information systems, specified the role of the technical assistance to BIAT.
Mr. Hanna gave details about the programme’s objectives, the three components, the main actors and the project team. For component 2, the various actions whose implementation is under the direct responsibility of BIAT, were also presented by Rami El-Sayegh, Project Coordinator at BIAT.
Mr. El-Sayegh gave a detailed presentation of the activities related to the development of an observatory, with updated data on markets, trends and sector stakeholders for SME’s in the targeted sector. A presentation was also made to participants of the various training sessions which will be proposed to producers in the sector, both technical and in business management.
Strong expectations from producers in the furniture sector
The last part of this information session allowed two companies from Tripoli in the sector, Okajian and Toros, to testify to the importance for SMEs of relying on an international cooperation programme to develop their production activities and their marketing and communication strategies, in order to improve their competitiveness and performance on markets.
Mr. Ahmad Farra, who manages the Nablus Furniture Cluster, also presented an example of success in the furniture sector in Palestine.
In conclusion, a question and answer session identified the expectations of producers from Tripoli in terms of the Programme, in particular concerning the possibility of gaining access to new market opportunities, but also and especially the interest which the latter have in this programme and their willingness to get involved in its development.
