October 11, 2012Advocating Reform to Avert the Resource Curse
The prospects of finding gas off the coast of Lebanon have triggered high hopes for the country’s economic outlook. However three major challenges stand in the way from turning the gas into a blessing: The first is the territorial water dispute with Israel; the second is managing the extraction process of the gas through the appropriate mechanisms; and the third is the management of the gas revenue.
Against these challenges, LCPS is launching a two year project with the support of International Development Research Center (IDRC) that aims to provide a roadmap for institutional and policy reform in order to inform and influence policy debate on gas. To this end, LCPS plans:
1. To conduct policy research on fourteen topics that deal from the geopolitical challenge facing Lebanon vis-à-vis Israel all the way to how to manage the gas revenues and avoid its embezzlement. The outcome of this research is a series of policy papers and briefs in both Arabic and English.
2. To establish a working group of practitioners with the objective to provide concrete recommendations on how to manage the gas sector.
3. To conduct a national survey which gives the Lebanese citizens the opportunity to express their views and preferences on how the revenues ought to be spent.
4. To create a webpage on gas so it becomes the resource hub of information on gas in Lebanon.
