To varying degrees, the adverse economic and financial conditions have been detrimental to private sector companies. Some of them have been able to continue business almost as usual while a few are thriving and achieving noticeable success. Their achievements are partly attributed to their agility and ability to adapt to the new developments and to market demand. The successful companies were also keen to develop their technology and their products, cut costs, and enter new markets abroad.
Creating a technological edge
Many companies are tapping the creativity and skills of the local workforce to develop products and services that are competitive in global markets. Ecomz has enhanced its e-commerce website development platform with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities. “We have made the platform more user-friendly to enable anyone without previous experience in website development to create their own website easily and this has enlarged our customer base,” said Amer Tabbara, Chief Sales Officer at Ecomz. According to Wissam Youssef General Manager of CME Offshore, their information technology company has launched three different artificial intelligence initiatives focused on natural language processing, fraud detection, optical character recognition (OCR) and image recognition. Youssef said CME plans to set up a new manufacturing facility for smart meters in Lebanon by 2021. “We have completed the R&D work for this project, and we are now at the certification phase,” he said. Companies continue to benefit from the local workforce’s skills even when they relocate abroad for ease of financial transactions and global marketing. Zein Rachidi founder of Topotrade, an online platform for the sale of land surveying equipment that is based in France, said that they kept technical development work in Lebanon because, in addition to their creativity and technical skills, Lebanese staff tend to be multilingual and this gives them a specific advantage. Encouraged by the success of its transparent braces produced through advanced high-definition 3D printing, Crystalign launched ‘Basma.com’, another innovative product, according to Cherif Massoud the company’s CEO. The website offers at-home doctordirected teeth alignment consultation and the customized aligners are then delivered to the patients, he said.
Riding the foreign exchange storm
The decline of the exchange value of the lira and the government’s capital controls have made importing of, Chairman of Sonaco, which produces canned food under the Al Rabih brand, said they have increased production to meet growth in local demand driven by the rise in prices of imported goods and the difficulties of importing alternative products due to capital controls. “Consequently our local sales increased 15 percent and could have increased much further if it weren’t for capital controls which have disrupted the normal financing of the company’s operations,” he said. Meta Lebanon, a manufacturer of electric and wiring accessories has witnessed substantial demand for its products. Despite the fact that it launched its operations just a year ago, Meta Lebanon has so far succeeded in concluding purchase orders worth $1.1 million on the local market, said , a shareholder in the new company. “The increase in demand was driven by the decline in overall imports in the country and the rise in the prices of imported products, especially as Meta’s products feature Italian technology and design,” Maalouf said. Besides accessing larger, growing markets, companies were given an additional incentive by the sharp decline in the exchange value of the lira, which makes Lebanese goods and services relatively cheaper in foreign markets. Crystalign saw in the weakening of the lira an opportunity to boost exports. Massoud said that they now export 90 percent of their output and that exports have soared due to the decline of the exchange value of the local currency. As a result, the company is bringing in fresh money to finance its operations. “About 600 doctors in the Arab world use our braces in countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Algeria, and Oman,” he said. According to Youssef, the decrease in labor cost allows local companies to offer competitive prices abroad and thus boost their sales. “Labor cost has dropped on the local market and so Crystalign has doubled the number of its employees in Lebanon who can work remotely for other markets,” Massoud said.
