Lebanon's Five Year Development Plan

Location: Lebanon Client: Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) Consultants: Associated Consulting Engineers (ACE) Project Description A major project launched by the Lebanese Government in order to address the macro-economic challenges arising from the post-war reconstruction period. While seeking to increase macro-economic strength and stability, the Five Year Development Plan (FYDP) was also aimed at: • Contributing towards the formulation of an action plan to up-grade the competitive environment for Lebanese firms and define a vision for the future development and growth of the Lebanese economy; • Prioritizing public expenditure projects in order to achieve a regionally balanced provision of public facilities and social services within the targeted public spending levels; and in parallel • Building a stronger competitive platform for Lebanon's firms and people to compete in the emerging world economy As such, 3 main objectives were adopted for the study, which may be summarized as follows: • To promote sustainable Economic Growth and Competitiveness • To Improve Living Conditions throughout Lebanon's regions • To Ensure Ongoing Analysis and Review of the Five Year Development Plan Consultancy Services The main services performed in fulfilling the requirements requisite for the project may be summarized as follows: The undertaking of detailed sectorial appraisal and analytical studies of the Lebanese economy. The formulation of a "Three Point Competitiveness Program" to govern and promote the transition of the Lebanese economy into the emerging Global Economy. The said program defined action plans on three levels with an estimated implementation cost of around 230 million US Dollars: - Urgent steps to remove administrative barriers to private sector effectiveness; - Medium term actions to upgrade the competitive environment for Lebanese firms and; - A process of private public sector cooperation to develop a vision for Lebanon through sector-level strategic for the country's high potential industries, services and agriculture. The development of an overview for the proposed public and social expenditure plan in an effort to priorities public expenditure projects to meet the minimum international standards in the provision of public facilities and social services throughout the Lebanese regions. The proposed expenditure plan is aimed at building a stronger competitive platform for Lebanon's productive sectors while, at the same time, meeting the various fiscal constraints Finally, the proposition of a detailed framework to ensure on-going analysis and review of the various projects incorporated in the FYDP.