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RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHLB #1220/01 3170713
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130713Z NOV 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6036
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 001220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN EIND PGOV LE
SUBJECT: EU PROVIDES MORE THAN 43 MILLION EUROS TO PROMOTE REFORM 
(ECONOMIC WEEK IN REVIEW, NOVEMBER 2-8, 2009) 
 
CONTENTS 
-------- 
 
-- EU PROVIDES 43 MILLION EUROS TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC REFORM 
-- LEBANON'S TOURISM GROWTH HIGHEST WORLDWIDE 
-- REAL ESTATE VALUES TO RISE THROUGH 2013 
-- LEBANON ONE OF TOP RECIPIENTS OF IMF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
-- NEW AD CAMPAIGN ON COUNTERFEITS LAUNCHED 
 
EU PROVIDES 43 MILLION 
EUROS TO PROMOTE REFORM 
----------------------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The European Commission (EC) announced that it will provide 
Lebanon with 43 million euros in grant assistance under its 2009 
Annual Action Plan, most of it to be spent on economic reform.  Out 
of this, 8 million euros will go to support Paris III reforms, 
including supporting Lebanon's WTO accession and upgrading tax 
administration, EU economist Charles Abdallah told us.  This is the 
first time the EC will provide assistance for WTO accession, he 
said.  The EU delegation's Francisco Lopez confirmed that the EU 
would begin support for Lebanon's WTO accession and stressed that he 
and his colleagues would coordinate closely with the Embassy to try 
to ensure no overlap with USAID's WTO accession project at the 
Ministry of Economy and Trade. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The EU's 2009 program will also provide support to 
education and public finance management reform (13.7 million euros), 
reinforcing human rights and democracy in Lebanon (10 million 
euros), demining and unexploded ordnance (7 million), and a new EU 
scholarship fund for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (4.3 million 
euros).  This assistance is provided under the European Neighborhood 
Policy and is part of a 187 million euro package of financial 
support for Lebanon for the period 2007-2010. 
 
LEBANON'S TOURISM GROWTH 
HIGHEST WORLDWIDE 
------------------------ 
 
¶3. (U) Lebanon witnessed the highest growth in tourism worldwide in 
the first half of 2009, according to the UN World Tourism 
Organization (UNWTO).  The UNWTO ranked countries based on the 
year-to-year change in the number of visiting tourists, comparing 
the numbers in the first seven months of 2009 with the same period 
in 2008.  The survey noted that even if more recent figures were 
used, Lebanon would still be in the first spot globally, as the 
number of tourists in the first nine months of 2009 rose by 46.3%. 
Since the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Tourism has 
continually noted that it expects the number of tourists in 2009 to 
reach two million, a dramatic increase from the record 1.3 million 
who visited in 2008. 
 
REAL ESTATE VALUES 
TO RISE THROUGH 2013 
-------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Real estate values in Lebanon will continue to rise through 
2013, according to global property news service PropertyWire.   The 
report estimates that real estate values rose by 9% in the first 
eight months of 2009 and will rise by 10-15% each year until 2013. 
The value of property transactions was estimated at more than $4.3 
billion in 2008 and is expected to be even higher in 2009. 
PropertyWire noted that the biggest real estate investors were 
wealthy expatriates and Arabs.  Residents who have suffered from 
skyrocketing prices over the past three years may also increase 
their demand following Central Bank of Lebanon (CBL) incentives to 
commercial banks to increase housing loans at competitive rates. 
 
 
LEBANON ONE OF TOP RECIPIENTS 
OF IMF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) Lebanon accounted for 10% of the IMF's Middle East Technical 
Assistance Center's (METAC) overall allocation of technical 
assistance delivery in fiscal year 2009.  Out of ten countries, 
Lebanon was the fourth-largest recipient of technical assistance in 
the region.  METAC was established in Beirut in October 2004.  Its 
assistance to Lebanon focused on public financial management, 
Central Bank accounting, banking supervision, macroeconomic 
statistics support, and revenue administration. 
 
NEW AD CAMPAIGN ON 
COUNTERFEITS LAUNCHED 
--------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The Brand Protection Group (BPG), a group of 22 local and 
 
BEIRUT 00001220  002 OF 002 
 
 
international companies fighting counterfeits, announced the launch 
of a new phase of its media campaign to increase awareness about 
counterfeits in the Lebanese market.  The campaign is also intended 
to encourage consumers to use the consumer protection hotline at the 
Ministry of Economy and Trade (MOET), which the BPG helped set up in 
2004, to report counterfeits.  Last July, as part of its effort to 
improve public sector capacity in intellectual property enforcement, 
the BPG, in collaboration with the Institute of Finance, held an 
eight-week workshop on counterfeit goods for members of Customs and 
the Internal Security Forces, as well as inspectors from the MOET's 
Consumer Protection Department. 
 
DAUGHTON