The civil war of 1975 to 1990 devastated Lebanon’s economic infrastructure and acutely affected the country’s national output and its position in the Middle East as a banking hub. In subsequent years, Lebanon succeeded in undoing some of the damage, but the war with Israel in 2006 set the economy back again. However, with assistance from both bilateral and multilateral donors, the Lebanese government renewed its efforts to bring about sustainable economic growth.
Lebanon is divided into six governorates, which are subdivided into 26 districts and then into hundreds of municipalities. Local economic development is critical both to strengthening the capacity of individual cities and to reviving the national economy, but municipalities in Lebanon face a number of challenges. These include continuing civil unrest and uncertainty, centralized structures that restrict the effectiveness of local entities, limited funds flowing from the national level to the local level, and a shortage of skills among municipal council members and municipal managers to best carry out essential local functions.
To help overcome these challenges, in August 2007 the Government of Lebanon awarded ICMA the second phase of the Lebanon Local Economic Development (LLED) program. The goal of the program was to bring about local economic growth, beginning with five cities. Prior to ICMA’s engagement, the first phase of the program included collection and analysis of data; assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis); identification of stakeholders; and a determination of ten cities’ competitive advantages.
The program was funded by a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank) and was administered by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities of Lebanon. For the second phase, the Ministry selected five crucial cities: Tripoli, Jounieh, Zahle, Saida, and Sour.
The ICMA team included a Lebanese partner organization—Information International—and a U.S. partner, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). ICMA and its partners worked with local stakeholders to develop a tailored, viable strategy that would invigorate local economies by encouraging investment and generating employment.
Based on the information gathered in the program’s first phase, the ICMA team considered factors that affect economic opportunities for each of the five cities:
- Accessibility of basic services, such as infrastructure, water supply, power supply, communications, educational institutions, and medical facilities
- Institutional and financial capacity, including the commitment of the elected council, the effectiveness of decision making processes, the size and quality of the municipal workforce, the ability to generate revenues, and the ability to provide and manage basic municipal services
- Interconnectivity with neighboring cities and villages, including the flow of goods, services, and labor.
The assessments delivered critical data that the ICMA team and the cities used to create a customized local economic development vision and strategy in each city that will enhance its economic competitiveness and institutional capacity.
The ICMA team involved stakeholders at each stage, using frequent workshops that brought parties together. A formal mechanism for involving stakeholders from the public and private sectors and other interests was the creation of an economic development advisory board (EDAB) in each city (see download below). The role of each EDAB is to facilitate a process that will refine the economic development strategy into a formal plan and guide its implementation.
In addition to the EDABs and the city competitiveness strategy, the ICMA team provided each city with the following tools to help it sustain its economic development efforts:
- A monitoring and evaluation plan, including the development of base maps using GIS technology and a computer program the city can use to record economic indicators and measure performance
- A communication plan designed to help the city attract investment by using Web sites, brochures, conferences and events, newsletters, media, and other outreach
- A dissemination plan that helped stakeholders and governmental leaders (1) understand the information gathered about the community and the resulting recommendations and (2) gain access to software and other tools that will allow them to track progress in the future.
Downloads
Success Story: Economic Development Advisory Boards (pdf, 64 KB)
