Education is one of these components; it is in fact the most important one in terms of volume (and share of the GDP). It is a Lebanese tradition that goes back to the 19th century with a significant help from French and American missionaries. The current enrollment rate is of nearly 96% amongst the 5-14 years age bracket. 92% of the population is literate: approximately 900,000 students out of a 4 million population are currently split 50-50 between private and public schools. Annual expenditure is of nearly 2,5 billion dollars constituting 12% of the GDP. Actually, there is such an excellence in schooling in Lebanon that “exporting” initiatives have multiplied: it was initially a question of opening schools in countries where the Lebanese community is large; in other cases, Lebanese professionals in the field of education manage schools in the Gulf countries or sell a specific know-how; the most extreme case being a renowned hundred-year-old educational Lebanese establishment (Choueifat) that has created an international franchise (Sabis Group), and established tens of schools in 20 countries (all the way to the USA), counting tens of thousands of students.
Higher education: is an essential constituent of the preceding component and is hence equally prosperous, yet with a special flavor. Originally established by Jesuits (St-Joseph University) or by American Protestants (American University of Beirut), these institutions have educated generations of academics as well as the country’s elite. But their role has expanded beyond the Lebanese borders: in fact, in the 60s and 70s, half of the students of Anglophone universities came from the surrounding area. Nowadays, there are nearly 40 higher education establishments in the country recruiting approximately 150.000 students, half of which are at the Lebanese University (the only public, free university). This proliferation has nonetheless created a quality problem, therefore an accreditation and evaluation system has been recently set up which results are not yet clear. In parallel, cooperation agreements multiplied between Lebanese and European establishments in order reinforce the credibility of the Lebanese higher education system. Yet, the number of foreign students remains limited and fluctuating in spite of the important potential request, because of the periodic safety related disturbances.
Health: “The hospital of the Middle East” as Lebanon was referred to formerly, has lost its competitive edge. However, medical care and hospitalization services remain first-class. Access to these services in Lebanon is easy when compared to similar establishments in Europe, be it in terms of obtaining a visa or being effectively admitted to the hospitals for all kinds of treatments. Tariffs are 2 to 4 times inferior to similar European care centers. Some 150 hospitals currently count nearly 14.000 beds, of which 90% are private. Here too, a sophisticated accreditation system was launched in 2003 in co-operation with an Australian consultant. Subsequently, several initiatives were launched to encourage Arab patients “to consume” our medical and hospitalization services. Even though we do not have accurate figures as of now, fact remains that these initiatives have started to deliver results. Again, apart from the safety related drawbacks in the country, other initiatives aiming at increasing this activity are encouraged, amongst which insurance agreements or global medical coverage plans for both the patient and his/her family. At the regional level, Jordan constitutes a serious competitor in the field especially for Yemeni patients who represent a high demand for external hospital care.
Transport: The historical Port of Beirut seems to have regained its position as a hub: initially for terrestrial transit with the Arab hinterland or more recently, for maritime transit: a new terminal made it possible to double the volume of cleared containers in 3 years. As for air transport, the new airport allowed to relatively profit from the increase in tourist flow, especially that the “the open sky policy” has facilitated the entrance of foreign airline companies while MEA, the national airline, was recovering from years of registered loss.
Cultural Products: Under this rather extensive tag falls a large quantity of lucrative activities undertaken by Lebanese enterprises or individual professionals. We briefly mention, on an ad hoc basis, some of the most important ones: first and foremost is the audio-visual industry that exploded with the increase of regional television channels, meanwhile, advertisement witnessed a great unparalleled expansion with Lebanese key players in the forefront, be it in terms of creativity or management of media houses (i.e. the Choueiri Group ranking number 1 or 2 regionally); whereas publishing remains as active as always both for books and periodicals, benefiting from a much more tolerant legal and intellectual environment when compared to the regional standard. The show business is also on the rise with tens of “voices” emerging in Lebanon and the area, feeding an “industry” in itself.
Thus, Lebanon hasn’t lost its attractiveness as a center for the production and export of all kinds of services. Unfortunately, the free trade of services which would be quite advantageous for our country is not yet included in our Association Agreement with the EU or in the Arab Free Trade Agreement. Both officially await the results of the negotiations pertaining to this matter within the World Trade Organization (WTO).
