In a country where crisis has become the norm, visions for reform often feel distant from the lived experience. Yet between policy papers and factory floors, a complex but necessary dialogue is emerging: How do we rebuild Lebanon's productive sector from the ground up?
A powerful blueprint for this conversation comes from the February 2025 paper “Towards a Productive ‘New’ Lebanon,” authored by Amer Bisat and Ishac Diwan through the Issam Fares Institute. The paper argues that for Lebanon to emerge from its prolonged economic decline, it must reorient its model toward domestic productivity, focusing less on speculative finance and more on tangible value creation, especially in manufacturing and industry. But the success of such a pivot depends not just on macroeconomic levers, but also requires real engagement with the micro-level barriers entrepreneurs face every day.
This is where Marc Raphael’s reflections offer necessary grounding. As CEO of Atelier Botanique, a Lebanese cosmetics company navigating post-crisis realities, Marc’s experience puts a face to the paper’s proposals. His insights on manufacturing in Lebanon do not romanticize local production. Instead, they reveal a duality echoed in Bisat and Diwan’s framework: The coexistence of opportunity and constraint.
Marc speaks candidly about how launching a brand in Lebanon is about navigating an entire post-production ecosystem with little formal guidance and often, limited transparency. “The game,” as he puts it, “starts after production ends”, a truth the paper nods to in its call for stronger export strategies and sector-wide support systems.
But Marc also paints a picture of a market saturated with unregulated brands and superficial labels, a symptom of the weak regulatory environment the paper critiques. Where the authors highlight the erosion of state institutions, Marc describes a hands-on struggle with informal brokers and outdated processes. In one striking example, he recalls having to physically visit the Ministry of Industry to follow up on licensing, bypassing service providers who had slowed the process. “Turns out it’s easier than you think,” he admits, if only you go yourself.
This reflects a core tension in “Towards a Productive ‘New’ Lebanon”: the gap between institutional vision and execution. For all the calls for policy reform and investment facilitation, there’s an urgent need to rebuild trust between entrepreneurs and the state. Marc’s experience makes it clear that rebuilding productivity is about coordination, credibility, and cutting through opacity. And yet, amid these hurdles, there’s hope. Marc’s belief in knowledge-sharing and small-scale collaboration mirrors the paper’s call for ecosystem-wide learning and specialization. He sees potential in local networks, not just to survive, but to grow. As Bisat and Diwan emphasize, Lebanon’s future doesn’t lie in large-scale infrastructure alone; it lies in fostering clusters of skilled, adaptive producers who can innovate despite the odds.
In the end, both the academic and the entrepreneurial voices converge on the same truth: building a new productive Lebanon will require much more than plans. It demands policy grounded in practice, and practice informed by the people doing the work.
This blogpost draws on insights from the academic paper: Bisat, A., & Diwan, I. (2025). Towards a Productive "New" Lebanon. Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut.
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A powerful blueprint for this conversation comes from the February 2025 paper “Towards a Productive ‘New’ Lebanon,” authored by Amer Bisat and Ishac Diwan through the Issam Fares Institute. The paper argues that for Lebanon to emerge from its prolonged economic decline, it must reorient its model toward domestic productivity, focusing less on speculative finance and more on tangible value creation, especially in manufacturing and industry. But the success of such a pivot depends not just on macroeconomic levers, but also requires real engagement with the micro-level barriers entrepreneurs face every day.
This is where Marc Raphael’s reflections offer necessary grounding. As CEO of Atelier Botanique, a Lebanese cosmetics company navigating post-crisis realities, Marc’s experience puts a face to the paper’s proposals. His insights on manufacturing in Lebanon do not romanticize local production. Instead, they reveal a duality echoed in Bisat and Diwan’s framework: The coexistence of opportunity and constraint.
Marc speaks candidly about how launching a brand in Lebanon is about navigating an entire post-production ecosystem with little formal guidance and often, limited transparency. “The game,” as he puts it, “starts after production ends”, a truth the paper nods to in its call for stronger export strategies and sector-wide support systems.
But Marc also paints a picture of a market saturated with unregulated brands and superficial labels, a symptom of the weak regulatory environment the paper critiques. Where the authors highlight the erosion of state institutions, Marc describes a hands-on struggle with informal brokers and outdated processes. In one striking example, he recalls having to physically visit the Ministry of Industry to follow up on licensing, bypassing service providers who had slowed the process. “Turns out it’s easier than you think,” he admits, if only you go yourself.
This reflects a core tension in “Towards a Productive ‘New’ Lebanon”: the gap between institutional vision and execution. For all the calls for policy reform and investment facilitation, there’s an urgent need to rebuild trust between entrepreneurs and the state. Marc’s experience makes it clear that rebuilding productivity is about coordination, credibility, and cutting through opacity. And yet, amid these hurdles, there’s hope. Marc’s belief in knowledge-sharing and small-scale collaboration mirrors the paper’s call for ecosystem-wide learning and specialization. He sees potential in local networks, not just to survive, but to grow. As Bisat and Diwan emphasize, Lebanon’s future doesn’t lie in large-scale infrastructure alone; it lies in fostering clusters of skilled, adaptive producers who can innovate despite the odds.
In the end, both the academic and the entrepreneurial voices converge on the same truth: building a new productive Lebanon will require much more than plans. It demands policy grounded in practice, and practice informed by the people doing the work.
This blogpost draws on insights from the academic paper: Bisat, A., & Diwan, I. (2025). Towards a Productive "New" Lebanon. Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut.
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