PA00XJR8

This report was prepared for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
pursuant to Contract No. AID-268-C-17-00001, Lebanon Enterprise Development Project.
Implemented by:
CHEMONICS INTERNATIONAL INC.

1717 H ST. NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20006
Telephone: (202) 955-3300
DISCLAIMER
This report is made possible with the support of the American People through the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of Chemonics
International, Inc. and do not necessarily reflect the view of USAID or the United States Government.
2 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

CONTENTS
CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................. 3
ACRONYMS................................................................................................................................................ 5
A. INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT ............................................................................................................... 7
A1. LED PURPOSE AND KEY PERFORMANCE TARGETS .........................................................................................7
A2. THE IMPERATIVE OF EMPLOYMENT CREATION .............................................................................................7
A3. LED DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESIS, PURPOSE, AND OBJECTIVES.....................................................................8
A4. THE LED TEAM AND STAFFING PLAN ..............................................................................................................9
A5. LINKAGE WITH USAID/LEBANON ECONOMIC GROWTH STRATEGY ..............................................................9
B. THE LED TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................ 10
B1. LED OBJECTIVE DYNAMICS ...........................................................................................................................10
B2. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR IMPLEMENTATION .............................................................................................10
B3. CRITICAL ASSUMPTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION ..................................................................12
C. DETAILED TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH ............................................................................ 13
C1. OBJECTIVE 1: CREATE JOBS BY INCREASING THE COMPETITIVENESS AND ENHANCING GROWTH OF
LEBANESE CLIENT FIRMS ....................................................................................................................................13
C1A. LED’S STRATEGY FOR JOB CREATION..........................................................................................................15
C1B. APPROACH FOR JOB CREATION: TRACK 1...................................................................................................16
C1C. APPROACH FOR JOB CREATION: TRACK 2...................................................................................................20
C2. OBJECTIVE 2: IMPROVE LEBANON’S BUSINESS ENABLING ENVIRONMENT (BEE) .......................................22
C2A. BEE COMPONENT PURPOSE .......................................................................................................................23
C2B. LED APPROACH TO ADDRESSING TOURISM INDUSTRY BEE ISSUES ...........................................................23
C2C. LED APPROACH TO ADDRESSING OTHER BEE ISSUES .................................................................................26
C3. OBJECTIVE 3: COMMUNICATE RESULTS THROUGH OUTREACH AND SHARE PROJECT KNOWLEDGE WITH
THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR.....................................................................................................................29
C3A. PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH FOR OBJECTIVE 1 .............................................................30
C3B. PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH FOR OBJECTIVE 2 .............................................................32
C3C. COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH PROTOCOL WITH USAID ...................................................................33
C3D. BRANDING AND MARKING .........................................................................................................................34
D. RESOURCES FOR TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION.................................................................................... 34
D1. SHORT-TERM TECHNICAL SPECIALISTS AND SUBCONTRACTORS ................................................................34
D2. GRANTS UNDER CONTRACT.........................................................................................................................35
E. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ..................................................................................................................... 36
E1. SUSTAINABILITY ...........................................................................................................................................36
E2. SCALABILITY..................................................................................................................................................37
E3. GENDER INTEGRATION.................................................................................................................................37
E4. ENVIRONMENT.............................................................................................................................................38
F. MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING ........................................................................................ 38
F1. MONITORING ...............................................................................................................................................38
F2. EVALUATION ................................................................................................................................................39
F3. LEARNING .....................................................................................................................................................39
G. ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE .......................................................................................................... 39
ANNEX A.................................................................................................................................................. 41
LED STAFFING.....................................................................................................................................................41
ANNEX B .................................................................................................................................................. 43
LED ACTIVITY RESULTS FRAMEWORK & INDICATORS ........................................................................................43
ANNEX C .................................................................................................................................................. 45
LED KEY MILESTONES AND TIMELINES...............................................................................................................45
LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 3

ACRONYMS
ADS Automated Directives System
AMEG Asia and Middle East Economic Growth Best Practices project
APS Annual Program Statement
ASB Advise for Small Businesses (an EBRD project)
B2B Business-to-business
B2C Business-to-consumer
BA Business advisor
BDS Business development services
BEE Business enabling environment
BIAT Business Incubation Association in Tripoli
BIFEX Beirut International Franchise Forum and Exhibition
BLA Buyer-led approach
BLF Banque Libano-Francaise
BOB Bank of Beirut
BPP Business promotion partner
BSP Business service provider
CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
CGP Client growth plan
CLA Collaboration, learning, and adapting
COP Chief of Party
COR Contracting Officer’s Representative
DFID Department for International Development
DO Development Objective
EA Environmental assessment
EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
EG Economic Growth
EMMP Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan
EOI Expression of interest
ERAC Environmental Review and Assessment Checklist
EU European Union
FAST Field Accounting Support Team
FTE Full-time-equivalent
GDP Gross domestic product
GUC Grants under contract
ICT Information communication technology
IDAL Investment Development Authority of Lebanon
IEE Initial environmental examination
IFEB Institute of Family and Entrepreneurial Business
IMF International Monetary Fund
IQS Indefinite quantity subcontract
IR Intermediate result
LED Lebanon Enterprise Development project
LFA Lebanese Franchise Association
LINQ Lebanon Investment in Quality activity (USAID)
LIVCD Lebanon Industry Value Chain Development project
LOE Level of effort
MEL Monitoring, evaluation, and learning
MENA Middle East and North Africa
MEO Mission Environment Officer
MOU Memorandum of understanding
NECG Near East Consulting Group

NGO Non-government organization
PMU Project management unit
PSD Private Sector Development project
PUM A Netherlands senior experts is a volunteer organization
PVS Partner Vetting System
RFQ Request for quotation
SME Small and medium enterprises
SOW Scope of Work
STEP Subsidized Temporary Employment Programme
USAID U.S. Agency for International Development

A. INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT
Chemonics International, Inc. is pleased to submit its second-year work plan to the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) Mission in Lebanon for the Lebanon Enterprise Development
Project (hereinafter “the project” or “LED”), Contract No. AID-268-C-17-00001. The LED contract
has a three-year based period, i.e. U.S. Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) through FY20, with a two-year
option, FY21-22. Currently, only the base period of the contract has been authorized by USAID.
This work plan covers most of FY19, i.e. Selected of Year 1 Key Accomplishments
December 1, 2018 through September • Closed deals with 26 client firms to provide technical
30, 2019. The two-month period of assistance that will lead to 327 full time equivalent (FTE) jobs,
October-November 2018 is cover by an with a projected cost-per-job average of per FTE.
• Pre-approved deals with 11 more firms that will lead to 164
amendment to LED’s first-year work more FTE jobs.
plan that USAID approved in August. • Profiled 173 companies.
• Engaged 10 technical consultants and 5 consulting firms to
This work plan is based on the contract deliver assistance to client firms.
statement of work and it builds • Leveraged an 11% cost share from the 26 client firms.
significantly on the processes, systems, • Established LED in the franchising space, recognizing this as an
experience (lessons learned) and results important growth strategy for many Lebanese enterprises.
that were achieved during LED’s first • Established partnerships with Berytech and the Business
Incubation Association of Tripoli (BIAT) to implement LED.
year of implementation, which are • Introduced LED to 1,300 individuals at 17 formal events and
highlighted in the box to the right. forums organize by LED or to which LED was invited.
• Launched a social media presence that has reached more than
Also, LED’s technical approach 115,000 people.
continues to build on ideas from • Boosted enterprise engagement in October 2018, bringing
Chemonics’ proposal; the AMEG LED’s deal totals to 32 closed deals projected to create 409
new FTEs and 14 deals in process with 430 projected FTEs.
technical guide, “Jobs Series #1:
The total number of profile companies rose to 257 and the
Enterprise Competitiveness”; and on cost share percentage had risen to 19%.
the book, We Do Know How – A Buyer-
Led Approach to Creating Jobs for the Poor by James T. Riordan. This plan is also influenced by LED’s
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan and the indicators and targets contained therein.
Lastly, the plan incorporates feedback from USAID.
A1. LED PURPOSE AND KEY PERFORMANCE TARGETS
LED’s purpose is to increase employment opportunities (jobs) for Lebanese citizens. Presently, per
the LED contract, the project’s targets for full time equivalent (FTE) jobs1 are as follows.
A2. THE IMPERATIVE OF EMPLOYMENT CREATION
Lebanon is a country in transition, in a region with extremely complex geopolitical challenges. The
need for social and economic stability is high. USAID is committed to supporting both.
1One FTE job equals 260 working days (8 hours/day) or the cumulative of 12 months of full-time paid work, e.g. 3 jobs of
4 months each can be counted as 1 FTE job. FTE jobs allow for counting full-time and part-time (seasonal) employment.

Recent events during the past year, notably the political crisis following Prime Minister Hariri’s
surprise resignation, serve as a reminder of the fragility and vulnerability of these conditions. Since
last November, Lebanon’s economy has taken a downturn. A decision by the central bank to curtail
a growth-inducing subsidized lending scheme has put pressure on Lebanon’s real estate and banking
sectors which are pillars of the economy. Commercial banks decreased their lending to the private
sector, and private consumption, historically an economic driver, has slumped for a second year
running. In addition, Lebanon continues to run twin deficits with an unsustainable debt ratio, and the
private sector suffers from lack of confidence in the prospects of the economy, which has depressed
growth, investment, and job creation. Several factors have led to this, including a tightened monetary
policy by Banque Du Liban (BdL), which is especially impacting availability of credit for SMEs; a nine-
month delay in forming a new Government following the May 2018 general election; and the
continued pressure from regional political influences and the shrunken adjacent export markets. For
example, according the World Bank, Lebanon’s economic prospects remain sluggish, with expected
GDP growth results to show in 2018 the economy slowing to 1.0 percent from an already low 2
percent 2 3. While the economy is expected to grow by 2 percent in 2019, according to the Institute
of International Finance, Lebanon needs to grow by at least 4 percent to absorb new entrants into
the labor force without further mushrooming of the already high unemployment rate.4
With such an outlook, it is easy to understand that Lebanon’s continued high un- and under-
employment will put added stress on the country’s prospects for stability and economic growth.
Moreover, it adds emphasis to USAID’s view, as stated in the LED contract, that “there is little
doubt that employment generation constitutes a major development challenge for Lebanon.” To
contribute to Lebanon’s peace and stability, Lebanese citizens need wage-based employment,
especially the youth, university graduates, and women who experience chronic unemployment.
Accordingly, LED remains an important and timely activity, even if the project is working in an
environment where it is increasingly difficult to create and sustain employment.
A3. LED DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESIS, PURPOSE, AND OBJECTIVES
Most observers recognize that in Lebanon, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are a logical
place to look for economic dynamism and employment generation. They also recognize the many
problems—both firm-specific and others related to the business environment—that make business
expansion and employment creation difficult.
LED’s development hypothesis is that increased private sector employment will contribute to
stability in Lebanon through job creation. The theory of change is that private sector jobs have not
kept pace with the growing numbers of Lebanese looking for work because of constraints to growth
for private enterprises. Firms will expand their workforce if they can grow the demand for their
products and services or identify new products, services, or markets.
Accordingly, LED’s purpose is to increase employment opportunities (jobs) for Lebanese citizens by
working per the project’s three objectives:
1. Create jobs by increasing the competitiveness and enhancing growth of Lebanese client firms
2. Improve Lebanon’s business enabling environment
3. Communicate results and share project knowledge with the public and private sectors
To achieve this, the LED team uses a problem-solving market-led approach, rooted in the buyer-led
approach (BLA) as defined in the LED contract and in the book, We Do Know How – A Buyer-Led
Approach to Creating Jobs for the Poor, by James Riordan, to engage directly with private enterprises,
private sector organizations, associations and syndicates, and other stakeholders, to identify and
2 Lebanon's Economic Outlook—October 2018, October 3, 2018, World Bank, page 1.

3In a press release (no. 18/250) on June 21, 2018, the IMF estimated Lebanon’s economic growth at about 1-1.5 percent in
2017 and 2018, and SGBL, citing the Institute of International Finance, put growth at 1.3 percent.
4 SGBL EcoNews, No. 73, October 2019, page 6.

solve business-related problems that are constraining enterprise- and sector-level investment, sales
(domestic and export), and employment growth. This contributes to Lebanon’s economic growth.
LED’s primary intervention is to assist enterprises—referred to as “client enterprise/s”, “client

firm/s”, or simply “client/s”—to understand, or better understand, market or buyer requirements;
to diagnose the key constraints that stand in the way of boosting sales to these market/s or buyer/s;
and to find solutions to these problems using tailored solutions delivered principally by Lebanese
business service providers and consultants. When possible, the will look to scale up these solutions.
LED-supported technical assistance is typically enterprise-specific and transactional—focused on

making new or better deals happen. It leverages and reinforces companies’ investments leading to
increased sales, which in turn leads to increased demand for employment and new jobs.
LED will also support solution/s that are cross-cutting, benefiting groups of firms that struggle with
common challenges (e.g. lack quality management or food safety certifications needed for export),
face similar business development opportunities (e.g. growing their business through franchising), or
have shared interests (e.g. restructuring family businesses). Helping to solve problems that will
enable Lebanon’s private sector to capture opportunities in international markets will be prioritized.
In addition, LED solutions may also address constraints that are common to a sector or subsector
by working at either the enterprise- or sector-level. Beginning in Year 2, LED will target four sectors
for assistance: 1. tourism and hospitality (hereafter “tourism”); 2. knowledge economy, including
information communications technology (ICT) and business services; 3. industry, focused on food
processing, but also including pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and creative industries like fashion and
furniture, etc.; and 4. healthcare (medical). These sectors were selected for their potential
contribution to GDP, potential for job creation, perceived competitiveness advantages, and overall
contribution to the Lebanese economy as outlined in the Lebanon Economic Vision (2018), prepared
by McKinsey & Co. for the Government of Lebanon. In addition, these sectors were identified as
having high growth potential by the USAID AMEG project in a report, Increasing Enterprise Growth
and Jobs in Lebanon, produced in 2015 and in the 2019 update of the Employment and Labour Market
Analysis by GIZ. The Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) also focuses on these
sectors. However, notwithstanding the decision to focus on these sectors, LED will keep open the
option of supporting high-growth enterprises from other sectors or subsectors.
Lastly, LED may also select a few key problems affecting the business environment that can be
addressed by working with private sector actors to propose and advocate for solutions.
A4. THE LED TEAM AND STAFFING PLAN
Working to deliver these expected results is the LED team—comprised of 17 Chemonics staff and
12 individuals from LED’s local subcontractors Berytech Foundation and the Business Incubation
Association of Tripoli (BIAT). The Chemonics team is organized into four units: competitiveness
team; communications team; MEL team; and operations and finance team. Annex A contains an
organizational chart and a complete list of all Chemonics/LED and partner staff.
A5. LINKAGE WITH USAID/LEBANON ECONOMIC GROWTH STRATEGY
LED is an important project of USAID/Lebanon’s Economic Growth (EG) Office. Its rationale is
anchored in the USAID/Lebanon Mission’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for
2014-18. LED supports Development Objective (DO) 2, “inclusive economic growth enhanced”, and
Intermediate Result (IR) 2.1, “increased private sector competitiveness”.
While according to the LED contract, IR 2.1 has three sub-IRs, Sub-IR 2.1.1, “strengthened business
association services and policy advocacy”, Sub-IR 2.1.2, “increased business and trade linkages”, and
Sub-IR 2.1.3, “increased workforce development linked to job opportunities”, this structure was
replaced to align with the new Private Sector Development (PSD) Project Monitoring, Evaluation and

Learning (MEL) Plan that USAID finalized in mid-FY18. The PSD project goal is, “increased
productive employment in Lebanon through direct support for the private sector.”
In the PSD MEL Plan, IR 2.1, referred to as PSD Result 1, is underpinned by three new IRs: IR 1.1,
“increased domestic and export sales”, IR 1.2, “increased workforce development”, and IR 1.3,
“improved business enabling environment”. LED—an activity-level intervention—contributes
significantly towards the achievement of these results as shown in the LED MEL plan and
summarized in LED’s Results Framework, which is shown in Annex B.
LED’s goal—increased employment opportunities for Lebanese citizens—aligns fully with the PSD
project goal, and LED is a principal mechanism for the achievement of PSD Result 1. LED’s three
contract-specified objectives are easily aligned with the three PSD project IRs. Achievement of LED
Objective 1 will be realized by helping the private sector to boost domestic and export sales (PSD IR
1.2) and through increased workforce development (PSD IR 1.3), which will improve the quality and
quantity of the labor force. For its part, LED Objective 2 is already fully aligned with PSD IR 1.3—an
improved business enabling environment. LED Objective 3—communications and outreach—is a
cross-cutting goal of the PSD project. In short, while the contract-specified objectives for LED are
presented slightly differently than those of the PSD Project, in fact LED is fully aligned with PSD.
B. THE LED TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION

In this section, we will outline three topics that influence our approach to technical implementation:
1) the dynamic relationship among the three objectives; 2) our guiding principles for implementation;
and 3) several critical assumptions for successful project implementation.
B1. LED OBJECTIVE DYNAMICS
LED’s three objectives are interrelated. At LED’s core is Objective 1: Job Creation, designed to lead to
increased jobs, the project’s main goal, by assisting client enterprises to boost their sales, increase
investment and, as needed, improve their workforce. Consistent with the LED contract’s envisioned
bottom-up approach for identifying and intervening on business enabling environment (BEE) issues,
we will leverage our engagement with the private sector under LED’s first objective to help identify
and validate BEE issues that could will be prioritized for LED-supported interventions under Objective
2: An Improved Business Enabling Environment. However, recognizing that waiting for BEE issues to
trickle up from the bottom will delay this component further, LED will take proactive steps to jump-
start this component. At the start of Year 2, LED conducted a tourism sector assessment through
this component and its conclusions confirmed industry stakeholders’ outlook that Lebanon has
significant growth potential in this area. Lastly, Objective 3: Outreach and Communications will be a
catalyst for the other objectives. Communicating how LED is assisting the private sector and the
impact of this assistance on Lebanon will promote USAID impact on the Lebanese economy, while
outreach activities will contribute to driving non-client enterprises and other private sector
organizations to seek out LED support. Similarly, BEE-focused strategic communications will raise
awareness and understanding for LED-prioritized BEE issues that will build support and political will.
LED successes on BEE issues can also be packaged and fed back to the business community.
B2. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR IMPLEMENTATION
LED adheres to several guiding principles, presented below, to help the project achieve its goal.
1. Adopt an inclusive definition of the buyer-led approach (BLA)—a market-led

approach. BLA is described in the book, We Do Know How – A Buyer-Led Approach to Creating
Jobs for the Poor, by James Riordan, as focused on assisting individual enterprises in a non-sectoral
manner. While these principles are noted in the LED contract, LED will pursue a more inclusive
approach in order to support groups of firms independently or at the sectoral or sub-sectoral
levels. By drawing on lessons learned at the enterprise-level, LED will formulate approaches to
scale-up assistance for greater impact by grouping firms or working at the sector-level. Further,
the approach allows for taking advantage of opportunities that may positively impact suppliers

that would lead to a cascade effect of helping other firms—boosting demand for their good and
services and creating more jobs.
2. Seek out and analyze other methods to create employment. Building upon our first
guiding principle, LED will look for other cost-effective means of increasing employment. LED
may group enterprises to address common constraint/s to sales and job growth or support
sector/subsector associations or syndicates to offer solutions for common problems—for
example, supporting export facilitation or promotion programs that would open new markets,
standing-up workforce development initiatives for sector/subsectors that can immediately
absorb skilled personnel, or working through large enterprises/organizations, e.g. cooperatives,
to create employment opportunities for many small-scale suppliers, including farmers.
3. Allocate resources to where there is the most opportunity. LED’s purpose is to

increase employment opportunities—jobs—for Lebanese citizens. The contract includes
ambitious jobs targets. To achieve them, LED must invest its resources to give the highest
possible return in terms of the number of jobs that will be created with LED support. Moreover,
we must continuously ask ourselves if LED’s resources are invested in the right place/s and at
optimal levels to effectively and efficiently facilitate job creation and maximize the project’s
“return on investment”. To-date, tailored, firm-level technical assistance seems to be the best
way to achieve LED’s goal, because businesses are the engines for job creation. If LED helps to
solve problems at the firm-level that are preventing or slowing growth, then its intervention/s
will stimulate or sustain business growth, which in turn will lead to new jobs in assisted
businesses. As such, LED assistance will have a direct impact on jobs. However, during
implementation, we will continue to review this assumption and to draw lessons from our
experience once we have more data about the results of our assistance.
4. Create partnerships to leverage funds and expand access to finance. To enhance the
cost-effectiveness of our interventions, LED will look to leverage external resources. During
year 1, client enterprises collectively shared 11% of the total cost of LED-supported technical
assistance, and by December 2018, this percentage had increased to 20% for all closed or pre-
approved deals. Clients typically share 5-30%, depending upon various factors, including but not
limited to how much the client needed to invest in other areas of the business. (There are nearly
always parallel investments—often significant ones—that complement the technical assistance.)
Based on year one learning, LED believes that a 10-20% cost share can be achieved with most
small enterprises. This can increase to 30% for some medium enterprises, and even up to 50%
for some, but not all, large enterprises. Generally, the LED team agrees that the final cost share
percentage for any client should be flexible so that it can be tuned to the specifics of each deal
and the capabilities of each client. In addition to client cost sharing, LED will keep looking to
leverage resources from other partners, starting with other projects that are similar to LED,
such as EU/EBRD’s ASB project, with which there is strong potential for collaboration; DFID’s
STEP project; the Dutch-funded PUM project; and USAID’s LINQ and Farmer-to-Farmer
projects. LED will also continue to pursue collaborate with local banks. LED’s discussions with
Bank Audi, initiated in June 2018, are ongoing, but paused until early 2019 at the bank’s request.
In the meantime, LED and its partners are reaching out to other banks as well, such as Byblos
Bank, BLC Bank, Bank of Beirut, Bankmed, Banque Libano-Française, Credit Libanais, and SGBL.
5. Partner with local organizations for sustainability. The principle of working with and
through local business promotion partners in targeted geographic regions is a pillar of LED’s
approach. LED works with partners Berytech and BIAT5. Berytech provides coverage for Bekaa,
Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and South Lebanon, while BIAT covers North Lebanon. Together, they
provide LED with roughly 10 full-time personnel, notably 8 business advisors (BA) who are
5Chemonics identified BIAT as a partner for North Lebanon in its proposal. It selected Berytech through a competitive
procurement that took place during the second quarter of LED’s first year. Initially, Berytech had only applied to cover the
Beirut/Mount Lebanon region, but due to concerns about the quality of proposals from bidders in Bekaa and South
Lebanon, LED asked Berytech to cover these regions also.

based throughout the country as shown in Exhibit 1 below. LED’s BAs serve as the frontline
personnel to identify, profile and recommend potential clients to LED.
By partnering with Berytech and BIAT, Chemonics is ensuring that LED’s problem-solving
market-led approach to enterprise development is being embedded into the local business
support ecosystem so that it can be carried forward by our partners. To further ensure this and
LED’s success, Chemonics is continuously strengthening our partners’ capacity to apply the
approach through hands-on engagement with the BPP’s management and BAs, updating tools and
templates, such as an enterprise engagement toolkit, and by organizing periodic workshops to
share experiences and lessons learned and discuss how the process can be improved. In
addition, LED’s operations and finance team supports the BPPs on matters related to compliance
with USAID and Chemonics rules and regulations and on subcontract administration matters.
6. CLA-anchored project agility. With increased regularity in year two, we will review LED’s
technical approaches, particularly the enterprise engagement process, which is at the heart of
the project. We will do so through periodic meeting with the BPPs and BAs—roughly once
every six weeks—and by meeting with selected clients, selected consultants, and as needed
other partners and stakeholders. We will also initiate information exchanges with other projects
to share learnings. Lastly, we will maintain open communication with USAID to collaboratively
refine our approach, should such a need be identified, as happened during the first year.
Exhibit 1: LED Coverage of Lebanon
B3. CRITICAL ASSUMPTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION
To meet LED’s project results, our approach assumes that factors which are outside of the project’s
manageable interest do not hamper implementation. Key implementation assumptions include:
Lebanon’s political, economic, and social stability will remain at its current level or
improve. LED continues to work in a challenging environment. While Lebanon escaped major
economic or political crises during the past year, the general business outlook has been subdued and
the country remains vulnerable to a variety of external and internal factors. Further, Lebanon’s

economy, already weak in 2017 when LED started, has slumped, with economic growth in 2018
forecast at only 1.0-1.5 percent. And while Lebanon successfully conducted its first general election
in nine years in May 2018, its leaders took nine months to agree on the formation of a new
Government contributing to anxiety about the country’s economic prospects, even though stability
and the prospect of a better future are keys to creating an enabling environment for business
growth. Without stability, international buyers and investors will hesitate to do business with
Lebanese firms, entrepreneurs will delay investments and expansion plans, and access to finance will
remain tight. If the economy improves, businesses may expand their operations, but if it gets worse,
it will likely damage investor confident and make expansion unlikely. This would have adverse
consequences on LED’s employment creation objective.
C. DETAILED TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH

In this section, we present LED’s technical implementation approach by objective, discussing how we
will achieve the project purpose, objectives, and expected results, building upon LED’s experience
and the lessons learned from the past year. Annex C shows the timeline and a table of milestones.
C1. OBJECTIVE 1: CREATE JOBS BY INCREASING THE COMPETITIVENESS AND
ENHANCING GROWTH OF LEBANESE CLIENT FIRMS
LED recognizes that its principal objective is to support private enterprises to create new jobs for
Lebanese, and believes that tailored, firm-level technical assistance is the best way to reach LED’s
jobs target. Moreover, understanding that year two is critical during the three-year base period, we
know that LED must accelerate and scale up its activities. We are on track to do so.
LED ended year one with 25 closed deals for which client firms had made commitments to create
318 new jobs6. Momentum was building. To-date, by the end of January 2019, the numbers have
risen to 45 deals closed with clients committing to create 837 jobs, and there are a further 25 deals
pre-approved and in process where enterprises have made commitments for another 582 new jobs.
In all, LED’s portfolio includes 70 deals with 1,419 committed jobs of which 136 had started by the
end of December 2018, as shown in the infographic on the next page.
LED’s target for year two is to close 150 deals—to assist 150 firms—linked to roughly 2,200 new
job commitments, as shown in Exhibit 2 below. We will achieve this by maintaining an average deal
flow of roughly 12 deals per month, i.e. identifying 12 new deals and closing 12 deals each month,
with an average of 15 new jobs per deal. This equates to an average flow of 3 deals per BA every 2
months, or 12 deals in one year. Because the BAs are hired through our regional business
promotion partners (BPP) Berytech and BIAT, this means that these organizations’ targets for the
year are 113 deals linked to 1,650 new jobs for Berytech and 37 deals with 550 new jobs for BIAT.
6LED reported 26 closed deals during Year 1, but one firm voluntarily withdrew from the program after signing an MOU
with LED but before technical assistance began, citing a decision not to moving forward with the planned TA.

Exhibit 2: Year 2 Deal Flow
C1a. LED’S STRATEGY FOR JOB CREATION
To create private sector jobs in Lebanon, LED will continue working along two tracks, as it did
during the first year, conscious of the need to allocate LED’s resources to where there is the most
opportunity to help client enterprises create jobs, boost their sales, and increase investment.
1. Firm-Level Track. LED will continue placing most of the emphasis and investing most of its
resources in this track, using an enterprise-focused and market-led approach to deliver solutions
that will enable enterprises to grow i.e. increase sales (domestic or exports), hire people, and
increase demand from suppliers. As mentioned earlier, LED will primarily target enterprises
from four sectors—tourism, knowledge economy, industry, and healthcare—but also keep open
the option of supporting high-growth enterprises from other sectors. All client firms will be
selected according to the process outlined in Section C1b, pages 18-20.
While LED will continue to directly engage individual enterprises, the project will strengthen the
enterprise selection process through expanded and more strategic outreach, both in terms of
what outreach and communication channels we use (discussed in Section C3) but also through
targeted outreach to businesses in the target sectors, firms located in economic “hot zones”,
and those in secondary towns in the regions. The team will also target businesses that adhere to
business-to-business (B2B) growth models, and LED will narrow its focus to target SMEs and
large firms, as appropriate, and limit the number of microenterprises that are accepted as clients,
considering only those that have more than 5 current FTEs jobs.
2. Sector-Level Track. Building on the first track, LED will look to support groups of firms from
targeted sectors or to group companies that need help in cross-cutting areas, e.g. quality
management or food safety certification (especially when required for exports), franchising,
family businesses restructuring, and other areas. LED will seek partnerships with associations,
syndicates, or other non-government organizations to design and implement these interventions.
For example, we will discuss with the Syndicate of Lebanese Food Industries (SLFI) ways to
reach their members for assistance on food safety certification, possibly in collaboration with a

large and reputable local service provider like Bureau Veritas, SGS, etc.; with the Lebanese
Franchise Association (LFA) on how to continue franchising awareness workshops and then
offer more advanced support in this area, especially relating to exporting a franchise; and lastly
with stakeholders involved in family business issues, such as the Institute of Family and
Entrepreneurial Business (IFEB) at the Lebanese American University (LAU). In addition, LED
will reactivate its discussions with the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) concerning
possible support for an export help desks or another export facilitation measures.
In addition, in the tourism sector—considering the high growth and employment prospects for
this sector, which has significant impacts on urban, semi-urban, and rural areas and positive
spillover benefits for value chains in services, agriculture and manufacturing sectors, and
following USAID’s technical concurrence on December 12, 2018 that LED target the sector for
assistance following a more wholistic sector-based approach to enterprise competitiveness—
LED will organize market-facing activities for firms and other organizations that aim to grow the
sector by increasing the number of foreign tourists, extending their stay, and increasing their
total spend. For example, to help Lebanon return to growth (the industry is underperforming by
around $1 billion in comparison to 2010 performance), LED plans seminars on digital marketing,
destination resilience and perception management in response to the rapid growth in online
travel sales and critical role that social media plays in travelers’ buying decision. LED will also
organize know-your-market and know-your-niche workshops, focused on key in-bound
destinations (markets) such as Latin America, cultural, religious, adventure, and conference
travel (niches). These activities will complement other sector-focused interventions
implemented under Component 2—BEE.
C1b. APPROACH FOR JOB CREATION: TRACK 1
Building on lessons learned during year-one, LED will apply an inclusive definition of BLA, consistent
how BLA works in Lebanon and how USAID wants it to be applied here.
During year-one, at first, LED sought to implement a strict version of the approach that focused on
non-sector-based firm-level assistance aimed at helping clients reach specific buyers to conclude
deals that would lead to new jobs with full additionality by and attribution to LED. But, this was too
restrictive, and it contributed to delayed engagement of client firms. So, with advice and support
from USAID, LED adopted a definition and application of BLA that is more inclusive and flexible,
which helped to jump-start enterprise engagement.
Inclusive and Flexible BLA Definition
In year two, LED will continue using a flexible market- “The essence of the buyer-led approach is taking
led approach to support clients—a demand-driven market demand as the starting point for all program
approach that focuses on helping firms to produce activity and working backward to solve the problems
what they can sell rather than sell what they produce. that stand in the way of satisfying that demand.”
Demand may be identified as a firm having already — Dr. James Riordan
identified a specific buyer—often the case in B2B
transactions—or when one or more firms have identified market opportunities that they can
convert to sales with support from LED—a common scenario in business-to-consumer (B2C) deals
where businesses sell to end-consumers (especially mass markets), such as in tourism and hospitality
(restaurants and catering) and fast moving consumer goods. When end-consumers are known, and
understood, firms can tailor their product or service offering to meet the consumers’ exact needs—
a customer-focused (buyer-led) approach.
In any case, at the core of our approach is the process whereby LED, principally the BAs, identifies
and engages potential clients to understand, or better understand, their market/s or buyer/s
requirements in terms of product or service standards (quality), price, quantities, delivery terms,
etc., and to diagnose the constraints that prevent them from making deals with or increasing sales to
these buyers. Once a firm’s key constraints have been identified, LED works with the client to find
and agree on solution/s to the identified constraints and then to identify, negotiate with, and engage
technical experts—well-qualified individual consultants or consulting firms—to deliver the required

assistance, in most cases with direct cost-sharing averaging 10-30% by the client. LED’s approach is
transactional—focused on making deals or better deals happen—as illustrated in Exhibit 3 below.
Exhibit 3: The Approach in Action
An important aspect of the Track 1 approach is the way that the team engages firms that
demonstrate high growth potential and the likelihood to yield a high return in terms of leveraged
investment, increased sales (especially exports), and new jobs. LED does this using a well-defined
process to identify, select, and engage enterprises; although this process will be improved as noted
above when introducing Track 1 in Section C1a.
Enterprise Outreach: LED begins by reaching out to local businesses, and the Lebanese business
community in general, to interest them in our work and approach. We rely on networks, outreach,
and referrals. With time, more businesses are reaching out to LED on their own to ask for technical
assistance. We expect this to continue and accelerate during the coming year as, for example, the
impact of LED’s assistance on year-one-clients is known and we can share it with others.
Networks—LED will continue to leverage its professional and personal network to create greater
awareness about the project and build more interest in our services. LED’s network includes our
partners Berytech and BIAT and their networks, which we will tap into more aggressively than we
did during the first year; chambers of commerce, associations, syndicates, unions, and other business
forums; business consultants and consulting firms; banks; other USAID- and donor- funded projects
(notably the new USAID-funded, Chemonics-implemented Community Support Program—CSP);
various enterprise support initiatives, e.g. Endeavor, UK-Lebanon Tech Hub, IDAL’s Business
Support Unit; other key partners and stakeholders; and staff and affiliates (“friends of LED”).
Following advancement of the BEE component, LED will tap into the tourism professional and
business associations networks to promote LED’s enterprise-level support.

Outreach—LED and our partners will continue reaching out to the business community at all levels
and throughout the country but using a more strategic approach that aims to enhances the quality
and diversity of LED’s portfolio of client firms. We will target businesses from selected sectors, e.g.
tourism, knowledge economy, industry, and healthcare and those located in economic “hot zones”,
such as industrial areas, e.g. Mazraat Yashouh, Mkalles, Nabatieh, Ghazieh, and others. The team will
also target businesses that have interests in cross-cutting themes such as export facilitation and/or
promotion, quality certification/s, franchising, family business, e-commerce, workforce development,
and possibly other areas. In addition, LED will pursue companies that using B2B growth models, and
the project will narrow its focus to SMEs and large firms, limiting the number of microenterprises
that are accepted as clients, considering only those that have more than 5 current FTEs jobs.
The LED team will target strategic partners in our network, especially associations and syndicates
from priority sectors, but also other private sector organizations, banks, and municipalities as we
strive to reach beyond Lebanon’s main urban areas to secondary towns throughout the regions,
especially in Bekaa and North and South Lebanon. (In the North, BIAT is already prospecting for
clients in Akkar, Batroun, Donnieh, Koura and Zgharta.) To support these efforts, as discussed in
Section C3, LED will organize LED Talks outreach events and will participate in various exhibitions
and forums that attract SMEs when appropriate and with the consent of USAID. Additionally, we will
ramp up and enhance our communication activities with a more aggressive use of social media,
which will include plenty of videos and testimonials from client firms and other LED beneficiaries,
and with more proactive outreach to mainstream media outlets.
Referrals—LED understands that good news travels and that success breeds success. So, during the
year, as our assistance to year-one-clients ends, LED’s MEL and communications teams will visit
these clients to capture the impact of our assistance and share it with other businesses. To
accelerate this, LED will prepare and disseminate in hardcopy and through social media—and its
subcontractors’ social media platforms—success stories and videos about its work. With time, LED
expects that referrals will become a major source of new enterprise leads for the project.
Enterprise Selecting and Engaging: Identifying potential clients is important, but not enough.
LED needs to evaluate potential clients to identify those that it can and should assist—businesses
who will yield a high return in terms of new jobs, and higher sales and increased investment. To do
this, LED will follow a 7-step process, detailed below, that we refined during the first year of project
implementation. LED documented this in an enterprise engagement toolkit that was disseminated to
all LED team members who are involved with enterprise engagement. The toolkit describes the
selection and engagement process and includes examples of all relevant forms and templates. In year
two, we will review and revise it further, as applicable.
Exhibit 4: Enterprise Engagement Process—the 7 Steps
Step 1 Profiling: After a prospective client is identified, the LED team, principally the BAs, will
gather information about the company, i.e. it’s market/s and/or buyer/s; product/s or service/s
offered or potentially offered for sale; the nature of the transaction/s to identified market/s or
buyer/s; constraint/s; potential solution/s; expected/needed support from LED (see the box on the
next page for a list of possible technical assistance); and the potential impact of LED assistance.
Then, LED will apply the following criteria, or filters, to evaluate each client.

1. Readiness: POSSIBLE AREAS FOR LED ASSISTANCE
• Does the enterprise have a clear and
• Identifying new buyers/markets
credible business model? • Improving sales and marketing
• Does the enterprise have growth potential, • Improving transport, logistics and distribution
a desire to grow, and know how to grow? • Improving product packaging and branding
• Does the company's management • Upgrading production techniques
understand its strengths, weaknesses, • Enhancing quality control systems
• Improving/upgrading product design
opportunities, threats?
• Identifying/organizing new suppliers
• Is the enterprise investing in its growth or • Upgrading technological innovation
does it have the capacity to invest? • Accessing credit/finance
• Does the enterprise need and want • Improving management practices
assistance from LED? • Improving human resource development
• Improving knowledge management
• Is there a clear role for LED and will LED’s
assistance add value to the enterprise?
2. Market clarity:
• Does the enterprise know its market, preferably specific buyer/s (with name/address)?
• Does the enterprise understand what the buyer/s or market wants to buy?
• Can the enterprise supply (or potentially supply after support from LED) what the buyer/s
or market require—at the right quality, quantity, and price—and can they deliver on time?
• Will the buyer/s or market purchase (or potentially purchase) from the enterprise?
• If a specific buyer is not known, does the firm know in what market/s it can be competitive?
3. Impact potential:
• Will the enterprise or its directly linked suppliers or associates create a minimum of 5 new
jobs for Lebanese citizens if assisted by LED? Jobs for women and youth are preferred.
• Will the enterprise increase its sales, especially exports, if assisted by LED?
• Will most new jobs be created, i.e. started, within 12 months of LED assistance?
4. Client commitment:
• Will the enterprise cost-share for the technical assistance?
• Will the enterprise play an active role to identify, select, and negotiate with the consultant
or consulting firm that will deliver the technical assistance?
5. Cost effectiveness:
• Will the expected cost-per-job to LED be or less7?
In addition to the above-mention criteria, LED also considers other factors, including:
• Does the firm operate in one of the priority sectors?

• Does the firm play a key role in a value chain? Would other firms in the value chain grow
and employ Lebanese citizens if the firm grew? Can it be an example to other?
• Will LED assistance add real value (is there attribution and additionality)?
• Are we confident that by assisting the firm we will not create or strengthen a monopoly?
• Are we confident that by assisting the firm we will not create perceptions of favoritism?
• Will a decision to accept the enterprise as a client enable LED to diversify its portfolio?
• Did the enterprise reach out to LED to request for support (did the firm self-selected)?
Information about potential clients that meet these criteria will be shared with LED management,
who will decide if a client should be recommended for assistance and passed to the next step.
Step 2: Stop-go decision (“Go Form” Review): For a recommended firm, BAs will prepare a
“go form” to introduce and describe the deals—the client, the envisioned assistance, and expected
7 Cost refers to only the direct costs of LED assistance, i.e. the monetized value of any consultant salaries, consulting firm
fees, grants (as applicable) and the direct costs of providing this assistance, e.g. travel and per diem (as applicable).

results, etc. LED management, generally the Chief of Party (COP), will send the form to the project’s
USAID Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for review and concurrence as a pre-approval of
the deal. (This is the first step in a two-step review and concurrence process with the COR.) If the
COR concurs with the deal, it will advance to the next step.
Step 3: Documentation: At this stage, LED will collect and prepare all the information needed to
close the deal, including information and documentation needed for (i) vetting prospective clients
and technical experts in USAID’s Partner Vetting System8, as applicable; (ii) hiring or subcontracting
consultants or consulting firms, which includes scopes of work, CVs, biodatas, proposals from
consulting firms, and subcontracts and associated documents; and (iii) preparing the Memoranda of
Understanding (MOU), or Client Growth Plans (CGP) that will be signed by the client and LED.
Step 4: Final deal review and concurrence: Once all the information and documentation for a
deal has been collected and the final terms and conditions of LED’s assistance and the client’s cost
share and other contributions (as applicable) have been documented in an MOU, LED will send the
MOU to the COR for final review and concurrence. (This is the second step in the two-step review
and concurrence process with the COR.) If the COR concurs, then the deal will pass to the next
step. For cases involving short-term technical consultants, before moving the deal to the next step,
LED will request COR technical approval for the assignment/s as required by the contract.
Step 5: MOU signing: After the COR has given final concurrence and approved any short-term
technical consultant/s, if applicable, the LED COP and an authorized representative of the client firm
will sign the MOU to make it effective and trigger all actions that it specifies.
Step 6: Assisting: Once an MOU is signed, LED and the client enterprise will implement all the
actions specified in it. LED’s MEL team also meet each client to collect indicator baseline data.
Step 7: Tracking: After LED has provided the assistance that was agreed upon, LED’s MEL team
will periodically monitor the results of LED’s assistance, comparing the actual results with what was
envisaged. When there are deviations, the MEL team will discuss this with the client and the BA and
any LED staff who were involved in preparing the deal to understand why the deviation occurred. As
applicable, the MEL team will use these scenarios to enrich our learning, which is critical for LED to
continue refining its process and approach so that it is smoother, faster, and creates greater impact.
LED tracks the status of each deal using Pipedrive, a mobile- and web-enabled sales and data
management system. Pipedrive is used by the BAs to manage their portfolios and allows LED staff
and managers from Berytech and BIAT to monitor the deals and the BAs’ progress.
C1c. APPROACH FOR JOB CREATION: TRACK 2
In track two, LED will look for other ways to accelerate job creation—besides LED’s central or core
approach to engaging and assisting individual firms as described in track one. This will also help to
broaden LED’s reach, giving the project a larger footprint on the Lebanese economy. We will pursue
this through two main pathways: (i) grouping enterprises that need help in cross-cutting areas, and
(ii) supporting groups of firms from target sectors, especially the tourism sector, which is a priority.
Delivering cross-cutting solutions
During the past year, as LED has engaged and supported individual enterprises—now numbering
70—the project has gained important insights concerning what assistance companies need that LED
is positioned to offer. The following cross-cutting areas have been identified: export facilitation
and/or promotion, quality certification/s, franchising, family business, and workforce development. In
year 2, LED will pursue opportunities to partner with relevant associations, syndicates, or other
8 In October 2018, USAID/Lebanon rolled out its new Vetting Mission Order (15/03), which increases the award value
threshold from zero to $25,000; awards above this amount must be vetted. Since the value of most LED deals, i.e. the
value of the consultancy, is below the threshold, the vetting burden on LED should reduce significantly in year two. In any
case, LED will continue to carry out its due diligence and will submit for vetting any risky cases.

non-government organizations to design and implement interventions that focus on these cross-
cutting themes and that can be delivered to multiple enterprises to begin scaling up LED’s services.
Export facilitation/promotion. Mainly, LED will address this theme through actions in other cross-
cutting areas. Interventions focused on quality certification, including food safety, or franchising will
target firms with export opportunities that require certification or developed franchise systems.
Likewise, export-oriented family businesses will be the main targets of LED interventions in this area,
and in the tourism sector, the main objective of LED’s interventions—discussed below—will be to
increase the export of tourism services by attracting more foreign visitors, expending their stay, and
boosting their in-country spending. Lastly, LED will revive discussions with ALI concerning support
for an export help desk or another export facilitation measures; for example, there are many
opportunities for LED to group firms to target specific markets opportunities. Specifically, LED could
build on LIVCD’s work to connect local food processors to markets in the U.S., or help them to
pursue opportunities in other markets, e.g. GCC and other Arab countries or in Europe.
Quality certification/s. LED will discuss with SLFI ways to reach their members for assistance on food
safety certification, possibly in collaboration with a large and reputable local service provider like
Bureau Veritas, SGS, etc. LED may be able to provide a grant to the service provider to deliver
technical assistance to many firms with strong cost-sharing, thereby leveraging funding. Likewise, a
partnership with IDAL, where by LED assists enterprises to obtain ISO or HAACP certification and
IDAL provides financial incentives for export, is also a possibility.
Franchising. Many business owners view franchising as an attractive expansion strategy in Lebanon’s
current economic environment since it can lower the risks and costs for both the franchisor and the
franchisee. But, while there is plenty of interest, many entrepreneurs do not have experience with
franchising and want to learn more. This created an opportunity for LED and LFA to organize four
franchising workshops during July-September 2018 that occurred in Tripoli, Zahle, Saida and Beirut.
To conclude that series, LED and LFE plan to organize one more workshop in Jounieh in March
2019. In addition, LED and LFA will organize an advanced training, in April, with an emphasis on
franchising internationally. Lastly, LED has begun discussing with LFA the possibility of organizing a
local franchising B2B event, where by local franchises present their offer to local investors. (Note
that the next BIFEX is planned for 2020 in collaboration with the World Franchise Council.)
Family business. During the past year we spoke with several people and organizations, including but
not limited to of the Institute of Family and Entrepreneurial Business (IFEB)
at the LAU Adnan Kassar School of Business and Near East Consulting Group (NECG), which has a
family business consulting practice, about the challenges that family businesses face when making the
transition from traditionally run businesses to more corporate-type entities. Although efforts have
been made in this area, particularly for very large family businesses, the challenge remains for many
medium-sized and large family businesses that are looking to make this transition to enable the next
wave of growth within their companies. As such, there is an opportunity for LED to address this
issue through, perhaps, a series of workshops or seminars, co-organized with the entities named
above or others. Further discussions with potential partners are required before LED can outline
specific actions, but at a minimum, family business governance is a likely topic.
Workforce development. During year one, many people that LED spoke with have indicated the need
for workforce development. There are many jobs opportunities in Lebanon for which companies
cannot find enough qualified workers, e.g. software engineers or other computer professionals, or
cannot find technically qualified Lebanese workers, e.g. printers or painters; the latter cases probably
existing because Lebanese are not attracted to these types of jobs, even if the jobs pay an acceptable
wage. This is a challenge that businesses within the tourism sector probably also face, so as we
engage sector stakeholders we will look to uncover these opportunities. During year two, LED will
examine these opportunities to understand what type/s of technical assistance is needed and what
the outcome/s would be. Cost-effective opportunities for LED to help stand-up workforce
development initiatives that will lead in the short term to jobs for individuals with improved skilled

following the completion of LED-supported capacity building programs will be prioritized for
possible support—either directly by LED or through a LED grant.
Supporting groups of firms from target sectors, with emphasis on tourism
As noted above, in year two, LED will begin targeting businesses in the tourism, knowledge
economy, industry, and healthcare sectors. As we understand these sectors better and identify
common constraints or opportunities, we will endeavor to organize activities for groups of firms
from these sectors. Some opportunities are already known; for example, quality management and
food safety standards are mostly often sought by industrial companies, the latter by food processors.
Based on the assessment conducted in in the first quarter of Year 2 and based on USAID
concurrence to adopt tourism as the primary cross-cutting sector, LED plans to organize market-led
activities for tourism enterprises that will grow the sector by increasing the number of foreign
tourists and expand their spending in the local economy. The assessment identified significant growth
potential (as Lebanon is generating $1 billion in tourism revenue less than the year 2010), and
private sector relationships being established present LED with credible market development
opportunities. For example, in partnership with industry partners, LED is planning a seminar on
destination resilience and perception management in mid-April. The aim is to show international
best practices for growing markets and using digital and social media to present Lebanon in a more
targeted way to source markets. Preceding this, in February, LED will sponsor (travel and per diem
only) five participants to attend a four-day practical destination management workshop in Jordan
delivered by E-Tourism Frontiers with TripAdvisor. (The event is organized by Chemonics
International through the USAID/Jordan Building Economic Sustainability Through Tourism project.)
In addition, LED plans to organized know-your-market and know-your-niche workshops, focusing in
major in-bound markets such as Brazil and on cultural, religious, and adventure travel niches.
Building on Chemonics relationships nurtured and developed by senior tourism advisor

LED will secure many specialist experts to deliver workshops and training pro bono, yielding
significant cost savings to USAID and the LED contract. In June, through , we will invite a
culinary tourism blogger with a million followers to develop pro bono 8-10 promotional videos on
Lebanon’s cuisine and various towns and villages at no production cost to the project, except travel
and per diem. We will harness such industry relationships to help position Lebanon’s tourism
industry on the international map by enhancing its stature as an attractive, safe and stable destination
through positive association with leading personalities and organizations, such as the United National
World Tourism Organization, among others. Other pro bono experts we envisioned securing come
from the adventure, conferences, destination image and public relations fields.
C2. OBJECTIVE 2: IMPROVE LEBANON’S BUSINESS ENABLING ENVIRONMENT (BEE)
During the past year, LED’s focus was on launching the project and getting work under Objective
1—the project’s main component—underway. For much of the year, LED did not have a large
portfolio of client enterprises with whom to engage on BEE issues using the bottom-up approach
called for in the contract, which states, “priority regulatory, non-regulatory, policy and institutional
problems will be identified from intelligence derived from clients receiving transactional assistance.”
Nevertheless, LED did reach out to associations and syndicates to introduce the project and its BEE
component, emphasizing the immediate opportunity for them to collaborate with LED to advance
their reform priorities. LED also introduced the BEE component during all outreach events.
Despite these efforts, no organization or company demonstrated serious interest in working on BEE
issues. While LED does not know the precise reason/s for the lack of interest in collaborating with
LED on BEE reform, we have speculated that it may have to do with people’s frustrations at the lack
of reforms made by the Government of Lebanon to-date and many individuals’ preoccupation with
Lebanon’s 2018 general election—first, preparing for it, since many business people were involved in
various political campaigns, and then as they waited for a new government to be formed.

In any case, LED will kick-start Objective 2 during the coming year through a proactive two-pronged
approach—waiting for issues to trickle up from the bottom might delay this component further.
First, as previously noted, with USAID technical concurrence already granted, LED will prioritize the
provision of technical assistance to the tourism sector mostly through this component because the
nature of sector-level assistance may address systemic challenges related to market access, industry
competitiveness (including workforce development), stakeholder cooperation and coordination, and
legal, regulatory and policy reform, etc.; this will have industry and economic-level impact on jobs,
sales, and investment, rather than direct, firm-level impact; thus, it fits the BEE component.
Second, LED will engage a local organization, HR Works, in January 2019, following a competitive
tender, to develop a prioritized list of BEE constraints by end-March 2019. Constraints must be
those that impede firm or sector growth and thereby create barriers to increasing new jobs for
Lebanese. HR Works will identify constraints by reviewing relevant and current literature and by
interviewing key informants, i.e. the heads of associations, syndicates, and other relevant NGOs and
entities involved in lobbying and advocacy. HR Works will also meet with selected representatives
from leading private sector groups or holding companies, influential businesses, banks, think-tanks or
other organizations or individuals who can offer informed and credible view on relevant BEE issues.
As appropriate, the consultant/s will also meet representatives from the Government. With this list,
LED and USAID will be able to determine if there are specific BEE issues that LED can address.
C2a. BEE COMPONENT PURPOSE
LED’s work under Objective 2 will promote policy, legal, regulatory, administrative, budgetary or
institutional reforms that have clear, demonstrable links to creating (or preventing) jobs for
Lebanese; reducing (or increasing) the cost of doing business; increasing (or discouraging) private
investment; increasing (or decreasing) sales; or that have other impacts at the firm- or sector-level.
Most of LED’s effort in this component will be focused on addressing sectorial opportunities and
challenges within the tourism sector because evidence from the sector assessment showed that key
stakeholders desire industry-level support, knowing that their individual success depends significantly
on the business environment that affects their sector. This creates an immediate and attractive
opportunity for LED to invest Objective 2 resources to maximize impact and spread the project’s
impact among various business and communities across the country. Furthermore, we believe that
this decision is timely and responsive to the significant opportunities that Lebanon has to capture a
growing tourism market, as elaborated below, and that it is also consistent with prior discussions
that Chemonics/LED and USAID/Lebanon have had about how LED can adopt a more focused
sector-specific approach to implementation, while maintaining the project’s core objective of direct
job creation through a sector-agnostic firm-level buyer-led approach under Component 1.
C2b. LED APPROACH TO ADDRESSING TOURISM INDUSTRY BEE ISSUES
Economic Importance of Lebanon’s Tourism Sector
Lebanon’s tourism industry is one of the most promising sectors that can rapidly propel economic
growth in the country. It is one of the largest earners of foreign exchange, source of employment,
and SME development. Its impacts benefit both urban as well as rural areas. The year 2010 was a
landmark year for Lebanon tourism, and since then the industry has experienced severe decline in
arrivals and revenue due to external and internal political and security influences. It is estimated that
the downturn has cost the Lebanese economy several billion dollars in lost revenue and tens of
thousands of jobs. Since 2017, inbound tourism into Lebanon has been on the rebound and arrivals
stood at a five-year high, yet tourism revenue remains under 2010 earnings due to lower spending
visitor profiles. Sustainability of the recovery is risky due to weak industry resilience and poor
overall competitiveness. Public and private sector institutions are weak and there is lack of
coordination among its actors. Lebanon suffers from an absence of a clear strategy for development
or international destination promotion. Despite these weaknesses, tourism entrepreneurs are
innovative and have shown resilience and adaptability over the past five years, relying on domestic

tourism for survival. Lebanon has a wealth of cultural, natural and spiritual assets that enable it to
dramatically expand its share of international tourism and fuel broad-based economic growth.
Tourism is a multi-sectoral industry that activates various industry value chains, but to function
effectively, it requires coordination among its core sectors: tour operators, accommodations, visitor
experiences (both urban and rural), and other actors. Given the strategic importance of the tourism
sector to Lebanon’s economy and the positive spillover growth impacts it can have into other
industries, tourism presents an attractive case for LED assistance. Supporting tourism development
will also allow LED to build upon USAID’s work under LIVCD in developing tourism initiatives in
various Lebanese communities. It is also an important service export and generator of foreign
exchange. Therefore, strong inbound tourism performance will contribute markedly to reducing
current account deficit and improve foreign exchange reserves.
Overview of Tourism Sector Challenges
Following the downturn, arrivals are returning to growth, but better performance is needed. The 2017
United National World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) World Tourism Barometer published in
May 2018 shows a 10 percent increase in visitor arrivals into Lebanon over the previous year. While
this performance demonstrates an encouraging sign, the 2017 performance falls well below year
2010 figures, when Lebanon attracted a half-million additional visitors, around 2.17 million according
to the World Tourism Barometer. This means that Lebanon still needs to raise arrivals by a full
third of current market share to return to 2010 levels, then proceed to further growth. An
opportunity exists to return Lebanon to its original peak levels, as well as ensuring the arrival of
higher-yielding visitors. To do so, it is important for all members of the tourism value chain to work
together in harmony and in a mutually-supportive and complementary relationship that would
generate arrivals and maximize local economic gain through visitor high-value visitor spending.
Lost revenue. In terms of revenue, UNWTO reports that Lebanon generated $8 billion in
international tourism receipts in 2010 and declined over the following period, reaching $6.5 billion
in 2014 and slowly rising to $7.6 billion in 2017. In the four-year period between 2014 and 2017,
Lebanon generated $28 billion in cumulative international tourism receipts (average $7 billion/year
during this period), a $4 billion cumulative loss from 2010 performance.
Low Hotel Occupancy. Meanwhile, one of the most problematic Hotel Occupancy Across Lebanon
indicators in Lebanon’s tourism performance is hotel
2015 37.4%
occupancy. According to data obtained from the Ministry of 2016 36.7%
Tourism, there are 21,810 hotel rooms in 408 hotels, with 3 2017 40.9%
and 4-star categories being the predominant. Most hotels are 2018 (Jan-Sep) 39.9%
under 120 rooms in size, with the large internationally-branded
ones in Beirut. The Ministry also reports punishing occupancy rates. After generating occupancy in
the thirties over the past several years, in 2017 the average rose to 40.9%, considered very low by
international standards. If Lebanon succeeds in increasing overall occupancy to 75%, this will
translate into 2.8 million additional room nights per year, with the potential for hundreds of millions
of dollars in additional receipts annually and thousands of new jobs.
Supporting Tourism Industry Development
Building on the significant opportunities that exist to help Lebanon grow its tourism sector, LED will
engage with key local stakeholders to confirm and prioritize areas of interest for support.
Selection Criteria and Objectives

We have identified the below objectives for tourism development support, which will also serve as
selection criteria for initiatives to be adopted. Areas to be supported will be selected by considering
fit with one or more of the following criteria:

• Visitor arrivals growth
• Length of stay extension
• Visitor spending increase
• Tourism-supported employment expansion
• Tourism-linked SME development and improved livelihoods
• Improved image of Lebanon as an attractive, safe and stable destination
• Building Lebanon tourism enterprises business competitiveness and resilience
• Enhanced policy and regulatory environment
Possible Industry Development Initiatives
Based on the assessment and fit with the above criteria and objectives, we have identified several
opportunities for LED to pursue.
1. Stakeholder consultations
We will begin our tourism development activities by building on stakeholder consultations started
during the rapid assessment conducted in November 2018. This will include further exploration of
needs and opportunities of the various professional and business associations, as well as relevant
regional organizations with direct engagement in tourism. The aim is to confirm opportunities
identified during the assessment and identify new opportunities for LED invests during FY19/Q2-4.
Depending on these findings, LED will implement select activities from those listed below.
2. Build private sector capacity to attract visitors from new markets and niches
The assessment identified several high-impact initiatives that can be implemented during Year 2 of
the project that will improve Lebanon’s marketability abroad. These include:
• Support a private sector-led initiative to create an inbound tourism association to serve as a key
advocate for the industry and to promote business-to-business relations with source market
operators and buyers (especially considering the absence of a national tourism board). A group
of tour operators are already discussing this idea and expressed interest in LED supporting this
effort. Based on follow-up discussions that occurred in January 2019, LED has begun helping
stakeholders organize a founding meeting in February to discuss the steps necessary to formally
organize and establish themselves as an association to serve as a strong industry advocate and
promoter of competitiveness. Achievement of this milestone will also help Lebanon better
present itself to international markets and achieve better collaboration among members of the
industry, and it will also pave the way for LED to support the organization’s programmatic
activities through grant following its launch. Following its founding and building on Chemonics’
experiences from Jordan, Georgia and Moldova, we will provide technical assistance to the new
entity to develop a business plan and we envision providing the entity with a grant to support
promoting industry competitiveness and attracting source markets.
• Organize a destination resilience and perception management seminar with TripAdvisor,

UNWTO, and other international speakers to improve industry awareness of how Lebanon is
viewed and provide important and timely market insights on current trends in destination
promotion and content generation and management. We anticipate holding this seminar in April
2019, and we plan to organize it in a way that positions LED as a key project in the tourism
sector—this will help attract new client enterprises—and so that it highlights USAID’s support
for tourism. Building on Chemonics’ relationships with international industry practitioners, we
envision most of the speakers for this event to come pro bono, except for travel and per diem.
• Organize at least two know-your-market (KYM) and/or know-your-niche (KYN) seminars

during FY19/Q3-4, most likely by international experts (some of whom may come pro bono,
excluding travel and per diem), to enhance targeted marketing and sales effectiveness. The
seminars would address topics identified and prioritized with the Lebanese tourism trade.

However, likely markets for the KYM event include South American countries, particularly
Brazil, whose 14 million Lebanese diasporas are showing high interest in Lebanon. As for KYN,
possible niches include the following:
o Meetings, Incentives, Conference & Events (MICE) tourism
o Adventure Travel: Trends and Markets
o Faith Tourism
o Destination Weddings
o Cultural/Culinary Tourism
3. Support positioning Lebanon as a destination of choice in the international marketplace

Several entrepreneurial initiatives exist that aim to present Lebanon to the world, but they remain
in need of support to help them better reach international markets and move prospective travelers
along the purchase cycle. Examples of such activities include:
• Host international tourism influencers, opinion leaders, media or buyers that can improve
Lebanon’s exposure to tourism supply chains (especially in relevant segments such as adventure
and faith) or that can improve destination perceptions in the marketplace. Culinary tourism
blogger (https://www.youtube.com/user/migrationology) is a likely influencer.
• Support Lebanese entities to participate in international tourism trade shows to drive business-
to-business relations with private sector partnership and co-investments.
• Explore opportunities to build Live Love Lebanon platform’s sales orientation by providing expert
advice from our digital tourism marketing specialist , one of the foremost global
experts in destination digital and social marketing.
• Explore opportunities to build on Holy Lebanon’s foundational work to promote faith tourism
by improving its international market outreach, including through more effective digital media.
• Explore opportunities to build on Les Plus Beaux Villages du Liban and others to improve
marketability of rural tourism experiences.
We will begin investigating specific needs in FY19/Q2. Should viable initiatives be identified, support
will be provided throughout FY19.
4. Facilitate private-sector-led industry-level competitiveness agenda
There are various entities or groups working on plans for developing Lebanon’s tourism industry.
An opportunity exists to facilitate an inclusive and transparent consultative process for developing a
private sector-led tourism development and reform agenda that would produce priorities for the
public and private sectors over a 24 to 36-month period. However, this undertaking will depend on
the willingness and commitment of the various stakeholders to work together. LED will investigate
this possibility and will provide support only after establishing the commitment of the counterparts.
We will begin this investigation in FY19/Q2.
5. Support workforce development in the sector
LED will maintain vigilance to workforce development opportunities that will enhance industry
competitiveness. Viable opportunities will be supported, particularly those that lead to new or
improved jobs. We will prioritize initiatives that demonstrate strong private sector leadership and
co-investment. We will begin this investigation in the second quarter of FY 2019.
Tourism development activities will be supported by short term international and local technical
assistance, intermittent remote and field-based support from tourism advisor , and a
combination of grants and BDS funds for training, awareness and capacity building.
C2c. LED APPROACH TO ADDRESSING OTHER BEE ISSUES
As noted above, LED will launch a consultancy in January 2019 with HR Works to develop a
prioritized list of BEE constraints that will be the basis for discussions within the LED team and with

USAID, and possibly other stakeholders, about which BEE issue/s, if any, should be prioritized for
LED-supported intervention/s. HR Works will prepare a suggested BEE reform agenda for that
includes the following information.
• A brief current summary of the state of the Lebanese economy and business environment. And
based on available statistics and data from key informants, forecast any changes that are likely to
occur within the next two years.
• A detailed list and summary of the problems/issues/impediments that have been identified during
the assignment, presenting for each issue the following:
o Description of the harm caused by it with an estimate of the economic cost if possible
o Details of affected sector/s. Is it sector-specific or does it cut across sectors?
o Details of affected enterprises. Does it affect only one enterprise type/category or
impact all enterprises?
o Details of affected geographic area/s. Is it area-specific or does it cut cross areas?
o Identification of the main antagonists—the “owner” or sources of the problem/s
o Identification of the main protagonists—individual/s or entities addressing the problem/s
o Description of what, if anything, has been done to-date to address the problem/s
• Identification of up to 5 issues that the consultant/s recommends for LED intervention/s. The
prioritization will be based on relevance to LED’s employment objective and the likelihood of
success based upon availability of a solution, local champions, political will, and other factors.
Recommended reform priorities may be issues that
require action/s by government entities at the national
or sub-national levels or could be issues that relate to
private sector or non-governmental “rules” that affect
the business environment such as standards,
certifications, qualifications, or other norms.
Additionally, they should be issues for which there is a
high likelihood of success, which depends on the
existence of three conditions, as shown in the
illustration to the right and described below.
First, there must be a clearly identified problem.

Second, a solution to the problem must exist. And
lastly, political will by the approving authority, whether
this is a public or private entity, must be present for them to approve and implement the reform.
(Approval of a reform alone is insufficient to create impact on the ground. The reform must be
implemented.) If one condition is missing, as shown in the graphic, there will be no change.
Relying upon the findings of this consultancy, LED will consider, in consultation with USAID,
whether the project is well positioned to address any of the identified BEE challenges. Priority will be
given to BEE reforms where evidence exists that a problem is common to all or most businesses in a
sector or geographic area; where a constraint cuts across sectors or geographic area; or when an
issue has been prioritized for action by a local organization, i.e. a local champion.
When the answers to these questions are positive, LED will consider how best to intervene. While
the nature of the BEE problem/s will define the specific intervention/s that are needed, LED will
likely work through local organizations, such as business associations, syndicates, and/or chambers of
commerce to advance an agreed BEE issue or agenda. Depending upon the issue and the partner,
LED may assist directly or through a grant to the partner. (See Section D2 for a more detailed
discussion about LED’s grants component.) Additionally, we expect that LED will work through the
existing institutional architecture rather than try to change it, as might be possible on a dedicated,
long-term policy project. On LED, our interventions will be limited and focused.

Before LED commits itself to addressing any policy issue, the LED COP, with other senior staff as
appropriate, will discuss the issue with the USAID COR. However, for policy issues that LED does
prioritize and chose to address, we will organize our intervention/s to follow the typical steps or
processes of policy reform as outlined below: analysis, public debate and/or consultation, drafting
and/or revisions, approval, implementation (early-stage), and implementation (full and effective).
• Step1: Analysis. The first step that LED will support is analysis of the issue to fully understand
the problem, its scope, scale, and severity, and, when applicable, to estimate the economic cost/s
of the problem and the benefit/s of solving it. We will rely on available data and key informant
interviews as the basis for analysis. The analysis will be as evidence-based as possible given data
limitations. It will be carried out by LED consultant/s or grantee/s as appropriate.
• Step 2: Public debate/consultations. Once the analysis is done, LED will support public
debate or consultations on the issue by affected or potentially affected stakeholders. The partner
or consultant/s who analyzed the issue will present his/her findings to stakeholders for validation
or refinement. In addition, these discussions will be critical for identifying and debating possible
solution/s and for defining lobby and advocacy strategies and tactics that are appropriate for the
institutional architecture surrounding the targeted policy issue.
If the issue lacks sufficient political will by the approving authority/body to advance, then LED
interventions would likely remain at this stage until there is enough political will to move the
issue forward to the next stage. However, during this time, LED could support communications
efforts by local partner/s—perhaps through grant/s—that are aimed at building political will by
directly communicating to policy- or decision-makers or to their constituencies.
A possible half-measure between this stage and the next that LED may support is the drafting of
a white paper. Production of such a paper could be done through a grant to the leading local
champion organization, e.g. an industry association, etc. Such an action would also qualify as a
strategic communications instrument. In Section C3b, we discuss LED’s approach to strategic
communications and outreach in more detail.
• Step 3: Drafting and/or revisions. When an issue enjoys support from the approving
authority, i.e. when political will exists, if requested, LED will assist with drafting the text and
supporting documents for a specific policy reform, e.g. draft policy, draft regulatory reform,
proposed changes to a standard, etc. These drafts, depending on the institutional architecture
surrounding the issue, may need to be reviewed by stakeholders, whose feedback could trigger
revisions to the drafts. Resources permitting, LED could also support these efforts primarily
through grants and led by local business associations.
• Step 4: Approval. When a reform proposal reaches this step, it is unlikely that LED will play
an active role except for possibly supporting local entities to advocate for adoption of the
reform. However, given the possible sensitivities of LED engagement at this level, we will discuss
and agree with USAID the appropriate role for LED before committing any resources.
• Step 5: Implementation (early-stage). If a LED-supported reform is approved, LED will
consider if the entity responsible for implementing it needs assistance. The COP, with advice
from other members of the technical team, will consider whether LED has the time, space and
resources to intervene. But, as above, given the possible sensitivities of LED engagement at this
level, we will discuss with USAID the appropriate role for LED before committing resources.
• Step 6: Implementation (full and effective). Once a policy reform reaches this stage, no
further assistance should be required. As such, we do not anticipate that LED will engage at this
level. However, we will track the reform until it reaches this point so that we can report to
USAID the full impact of its assistance, through LED, on the policy reform.

C3. OBJECTIVE 3: COMMUNICATE RESULTS THROUGH OUTREACH AND SHARE
PROJECT KNOWLEDGE WITH THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR
Objective 3 acts as a catalyst, helping us to achieve its first and second components. Adapted and
tailored to the first two project objectives, LED’s communication and outreach activities will be
guided by communication goals and framework shown below.
As previously stated, LED’s focus during the first year was on getting Objective 1 up and running. As
far as LED’s communications efforts were concerned, LED’s focus was on creating awareness about
the project. The team produced a bouquet of informative materials and tools, launched a social
media presence that has reached more than 115,000 people, and introduced LED to approximately
1,300 individuals at 17 formal events and forums organized by LED or to which LED was invited.
This year, LED and our partners will continue proactively reaching out to the business community,
but we will expand our outreach and make it more strategic. We will target businesses in economic
“hot zones”, in promising sectors, and in secondary towns in the regions. The team will also seek
out companies that can create new employment through franchising or by transitioning from
traditional family businesses to corporate-style business entities. LED will organize outreach and
awareness sessions throughout Lebanon, and then invite interested firms to apply for LED technical
assistance. Lastly, LED will pursue firms that adhere to B2B growth models, and target SMEs and
large firms rather than microenterprises.
To support these objectives, LED’s communications team will use a variety of tools and channels,
including but not limited to events and meetings, conventional media, social media, photographs,
videos, etc., to communicate about LED’s performance—its successes, accomplishments, and
impact—and to promote the project’s benefits to the local business community. During year two,
LED will emphasize the use of client stories that showcase the impact of LED’s support to these
firms. We hope that this will encourage other companies to reach out to LED for help once they see
what their peers are accomplishing. These stories will be packaged as short videos, small write-ups,
or brief highlights and disseminated through LED’s and its partners’ social media pages and shared
with traditional media. LED also hopes that by sharing clients’ stories other businesses will begin to
replicate what LED’s clients are doing to increase sales and jobs.
In addition, LED will carry out sustained communication campaigns for the public that emphasize
LED’s impact on Lebanon in terms of creating jobs, spurring economic growth, advancing rural
development, alleviating poverty, easing community tensions, empowering youth and women, and
breaking social barriers. The campaigns will deliver information about best management practices,
new trends, and how external technical assistance can help businesses to overcome persistent

problems and help them grow in a competitive and difficult business environment. LED will turn its
communication channels into knowledge sharing and exchange platforms for businesses, not only to
empower them, but also to push them to reach out to LED.
In parallel, throughout the project implementation, the communications team will support the MEL
team to produce and disseminate reports, studies, etc. that highlight LED’s learning experiences,
including challenges encountered and solutions proposed, and communicate the project’s successes.
C3a. PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH FOR OBJECTIVE 1
Overall strategy: LED will continue to promote inclusivity by communicating on a national scale.
All campaigns will articulate LED’s cost-effective and broad-reaching approach to job creation. LED
will focus on turning its communication channels into knowledge sharing platforms where businesses
can benefit from their peers’ experience and get informed about best business practices and tools,
so that they reach out to LED. Also, the team will strategically target businesses to enhance the
quality and diversity of LED’s portfolio of client firms.
Proposed actions: During year two, the communications team will continue to create content that
promotes LED’s objectives and its expected impact at different levels. However, this year LED will
be more active and aggressive in its use of social media since the project will have richer and more
varied content to share. The team will boost more posts to reach wider or targeted audiences, as
applicable, but always with the goal of attracting more businesses to LED. In addition, we will target
other media channels, including the traditional and mass media in Lebanon. Resulting from our
outreach, we want businesses to request for assistance—to self-select as potential clients.
Accordingly, this year’s content will consist of more testimonials and stories about assisted firms and
the impact of our assistance, using short videos to showcase the originality, importance, and
transparency of our assistance. LED will also conduct interviews with newly hired employees at
client companies to highlight the impact on their lives. This will give hope to people who are
frustrated by the current difficult socioeconomic situation in Lebanon. We also expect that local
media will want to cover these stories too. Therefore, LED’s communications team will reach out to
TV programs such as “The Start” on MTV and “Startup 331” on Tele-Liban; business magazines such
as “Le Commerce du Levant”, the “Executive” and “Lebanon Opportunities”; and newspapers such
as “The Daily Star”, “L’Orient Le Jour” and “An-Nahar”. The team will also cross-promote the
project on websites and blogs as we did in year one with Berytech, BIAT, and Antwork.
Moreover, LED will strategically target areas of Lebanon with high concentrations of businesses—
economic “hot zones”. The communications team has started preparing the approach and action
plan with LED’s BBPs—Berytech and BIAT. After performing a desk research and getting necessary
information about potential regions, the BAs will conduct field visits to map and assess the potential
of organizing outreach events and getting relevant clients to LED. Do these businesses have the
potential to grow and expand? The team will also reach out to partners and key players at the
national, regional, and local levels, including associations, syndicates, trade unions, firms, banks,
unions of municipalities, municipalities etc., and then invite them and their affiliated businesses to
participate in a series of “LED Talks” across the country, as shown in below.
With BIAT, the team agreed to organize focused meetings with branch managers from banks in
various locations, i.e. Tripoli, Zgharta/Koura, Aakar, etc., between mid-January 2019 and end-
February about how they can help LED to identifying potential clients. This will be followed by “LED
Talks” events for SMEs identified by the banks. In addition to introducing LED to these SMEs, we
may also bring individuals with expertise in various disciplines to speak about specific topic/s that
may be of interest to the participating firms, hereby bringing added value to the events.

In addition, Berytech has agreed with Byblos Bank that LED can participate in training session that
are organized by the bank to present the project to participating businesses. With LED offering
technical assistance to their clients, the bank will feel more secure to provide loans because the
assistance will reduce risks and enhance clients’ growth potential. These business-focused events will
aim to raise awareness about LED, its approach, and to engage directly with potential client firms.

Since LED will mostly provide assistance to the tourism sector through this component, and given
that key stakeholders desire for industry-level support, LED’s communication strategy will focus on
supporting the implementation of the tourism sector’s communication and outreach objectives.
Hence, the communication efforts will focus on enhancing the image and reputation of Lebanon and
on facilitating the organization of all activities identified under this component.
Also, based on the results of the consultancy that will be delivered in January 2019, LED will advance
priority BEE reforms by supporting local “champions”, i.e. individuals, organizations, or companies,
that are already advocating for these reforms or are ready to do so. With the launching of LED’s
grant program, some of the champions may also be LED grantees. The team will support these
champions to conduct advocacy and information campaigns that will increase decision makers’ and
the public’s understanding of business-friendly policy reform proposals. Improving Lebanon’s
business enabling environment will require putting pressure on decision-makers to act.
Proposed actions: Based on the several opportunities that were identified for the tourism sector,
LED’s communication will facilitate and coordinate stakeholder consultations that may lead to the
creation of the tourism association. The team will also help in organizing any marketing seminars
related to MICE tourism, adventure travel, faith tourism, etc. Moreover, LED will support the
organization of a digital/social media tourism marketing seminar with TripAdvisor to improve
industry awareness of how Lebanon is viewed. Positioning Lebanon as a destination of choice will be
enhanced through various communication activities such as hosting national and international
tourism influencers and opinion leaders, supporting Lebanese entities to participate in international
tourism trade shows, collaborating with Live Love Lebanon to promote the country since it is a
credible and renown platform, and improving the marketability of rural tourism experiences by
building strong relationships with concerned organizations.
In parallel, LED’s communications team will support reform champions to design and carry out
strategic communications campaigns that advance their efforts to lobby and advocate for changes to
the business environment that will accelerate enterprise or sector growth and create more jobs for
Lebanese. Some issues may benefit from direct funding, whereby LED would pay various costs
directly; whereas others may be funded through LED grants to local champions. As needed, LED will
strengthen champions’ or other organizations’ ability to conduct strategic outreach to policymakers,
their constituents/members, media organizations, and/or the public.
Depending on the desired reform, communications efforts may need to be supported in advance by
research and analysis so that the potential benefits of the reform are known, as well as the cost of
inaction. (Such action would be fall within step 1 of the policy reform process outlined above.) Also
dependent on the reform, a combination of communication approaches will be used. When mass
communications are required, various materials and tools could be used such as television and radio
appearances, articles in newspapers and magazines, and social media campaigns, including posts by
important influencers, such as bloggers, etc. And since media advocacy relies on the goodwill of
gatekeepers to secure desired coverage and ensure that truthful and reliable content is used, the
communications team will foster these relationships and work with champions to do the same.
C3c. COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH PROTOCOL WITH USAID
The primary audience for the LED’s internal communications is USAID. The team will provide
regular formal programmatic and financial reporting to USAID. The objective is to communicate
project performance, disseminate successes, and highlight higher level achievements. The team will
also communicate project challenges, proposed solutions, and lessons learned.
To increase the visibility of USAID’s assistance to Lebanon’s economic growth and stability, LED will
identify key events, activities, and results to publicize to external audiences.

A variety of tools and materials will be used for both internal and external project communications,
including but not limited to meetings, weekly updates, quarterly reports, annual reports, success
stories, learning updates, case studies, photos and captions, and videos.
The LED COP will be LED’s primary point of contact for USAID’s COR. Understanding USAID’s
restrictions on movements, the COP will keep the COR informed of project activities through
regular emails, phone calls, and visits to USAID’ office at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar per USAID’s
preferences. If the project needs to liaise with government officials, the COP will first confer with
USAID and plan communications accordingly.
C3d. BRANDING AND MARKING
In accordance with the contract, as authorized by Automated Directive Systems (ADS) 320, we will
ensure that LED is properly branded to convey the message that “this assistance is from the
American People.” The main message about LED is that USAID/Lebanon seeks to help Lebanese
firms expand their activities and sales, thus creating new jobs and increasing incomes of Lebanese
unemployed youth, thereby contributing to a growing, inclusive economy. LED will also be
positioned as a partnership between USAID and private entities, and all materials will reflect this
partnership. The primary audience includes the private enterprises with which LED will work. The
secondary audience includes other segments of the local community, media, and opinion leaders.
Accordingly, the USAID identity shall be prominently displayed on all commodities or equipment;
audio, visual, or electronic communications; studies, reports, publications, websites, and all
promotional and informational products; and events. Any plans for exceptions to the marketing
requirements such as on communications products such as on documents relating to BEE activities
where marking with the USAID identity might diminish the credibility of the product or undercut
host-country ownership shall be discussed in advance with the COR.
D. RESOURCES FOR TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION

The LED team is comprised of 16 full time Chemonics staff, inclusive of one vacant MEL specialist
position for which recruitment is ongoing, and 12 individuals from LED’s partners Berytech and BIAT
who dedicate all or part of their time to the project. These individuals form the core team who are
responsible for implementing the project. Berytech and BIAT’s roles are focused on Objective 1 with
some contributions to Objective 3 through their strategic outreach to the business community.
They will also support Objective 2 by validating or identifying BEE reform targets. To support the
core team during technical implementation, LED has three resources, short-term technical
specialists, subcontracts, and grants under contract, discussed briefly below.
D1. SHORT-TERM TECHNICAL SPECIALISTS AND SUBCONTRACTORS
During year one, LED engaged 10 short-term technical specialists (independent consultants) and 5
subcontractors (consulting firms) to deliver assistance to client enterprises being supported through
LED Objective 1. The value of consultancies per client enterprise ranged from
depending on the need and the expected number of new jobs. All service providers were Lebanese.
LED identified these talents though our network, during outreach events, from client referrals, and
from various requests for quotations (RFQ) or expressions of interest (EOI) that LED advertised
during the year on Daleel Madani and its social media pages. By year-end, LED had well-curated lists
of individual consultants and local consulting firms and open EOIs for both talent pools.
LED will continue using these methods during year-two, but for consulting firms will also put in place
some indefinite quantity subcontracts with pre-selected providers to expedite the subcontracting
process for frequently needed technical services.

Prior to engaging any technical assistance provider, LED tries to involve the beneficiary (client) in the
process. However, we have found that many firms do not know how to secure the services of
professional, honest, and appropriate technical experts—or do not feel confident doing so—who
will correctly advise them and support their growth efforts. Here, LED plays a major role in filling
that “gap”. But when a client knows and trusts a potential provider, LED is willing to consider
engaging them, if the costs are at market prices, the workload of the concerned consultant/s allows
it, and always with a clear vision to ensure full compliance with LED procedures.
In addition, as part of involving clients in the consultant selection and engagement process, LED asks
them to provide input into the assignment scope of work (SOW) and to confirm that the SOW
meets their needs. Also, in most cases LED requires the client to share 10-30% of the cost of the
consultancy—although the amount can vary depending upon various factors, including but not
limited to how much the client needed to invest in other areas of the business. (There are nearly
always parallel investments—often significant—required to complement the technical assistance.)
Based on year one learning, LED believes that a 10-20% cost share can be achieved with most small
enterprises. This can increase to a maximum of 30% for some medium enterprises, and even up to
50% for some, but not all, large enterprises. Generally, the LED team agrees that the cost share for
any client should be flexible so that it can be tuned to the specifics of each deal and their capabilities.
While the LED contract allows for the use of local, regional, and international service providers, LED
will strive to use local provider whenever possible.
Technical specialists. Most technical specialists will be engaged to support LED clients—i.e. the
clients will be the beneficiaries of the service—but some consultancies will be initiated by LED for
other reasons that do not involve any specific client. In all cases, technical specialists’ work will be
performed against a detailed SOW and after receiving technical approval from the project COR.
Prior to this, LED will conduct due diligence checks and submit consultants for vetting as applicable.
Subcontractors. Subcontractors with specialized technical expertise will be hired, as needed, to

help LED clients solve specific business problems; to work on BEE-related tasks; or to support
strategic communications campaigns. As noted, LED will put in place some indefinite quantity
subcontracts during year two. Like with technical specialists, LED will conduct due diligence checks
on potential subcontractors and submit them for vetting as applicable.
D2. GRANTS UNDER CONTRACT
LED will launch its grants program in year two. It was not launched in year one because the team
was focused on getting component one up and running. But LED did prepare its grants manual,
which the Contracting Officer approved February 2018, and in the last quarter of the year, LED
finalized an Annual Program Statement (APS) that will run from October 2018-September 2019.
LED’s grants program will support and complement the first and second components—though it
might even drive component two, because as noted above in Section C2, the opportunity to receive
grant funding might excite and generate interest from local organizations to partner with LED, to
pursue reforms leading to a more enabling business environment.
The objective of the grant program is to support LED’s goal of creating new jobs for Lebanese by
leveraging the ideas, knowledge, skills, and resources of selected local organizations. The outcomes
achieved by LED’s grantees will bolster LED’s overall impact on the Lebanese economy.
LED will award grants that offer solutions to common or shared problems faced by multiple firms or
by a sector, subsector, or market niche. For example, solutions may relate to improving market
access, enhancing the quality and quantity of the workforce, facilitating access to finance, or to
policy, regulatory, and administrative reforms for selected business environment problems.

LED’s grant-supported solutions are expected to fall under one of two areas as follows:
1. Firm or industry competitiveness: Grants shall address constraints that result in directly improving
business operations for firms. Examples include improved market development, exports and
sales, workforce development, or access to finance.
2. Improved business enabling environment: Grants shall address policy, regulatory, or administrative
constraints to doing business that will reduce the cost of doing business, increase investment, or
have other beneficial impacts, thereby accelerating private sector growth and job creation.
LED’s grantmaking process, as advertised in the APS, is a two-stage process. First, applicants will
submit brief concept papers and summary budgets, which will be evaluated against established
criteria. Selected applicants will then be invited to submit full applications (stage two). Concept
papers will be reviewed on a rolling basis through September 2019 or until full award of funds,
whichever is earlier. LED expects to make its first awards in FY19/Q2.
E. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
E1. SUSTAINABILITY
On LED, we are concerned with three types of sustainability: the durability of the market for client
firms’ goods or services; the ability of local service providers to deliver value-added business services
that clients are willing to pay for; and the capacity of our partners Berytech and BIAT to sustain
LED’s market-led approach to enterprise competitiveness and job creation after the project ends.
Market sustainability. Sustained and growing sales of LED-assisted enterprises is an essential pre-
condition for them to hire and retain more Lebanese. Therefore, durability of the market for clients’
goods or services is paramount. As such, LED will emphasize to client firms the importance building
long-term relationships with their buyers. Each transaction should increase the trust and confidence
that the market/buyers have in firm so that a sustained business relationship is created. Likewise, to
the extent that a client has had to demand more from its suppliers, the firm must also cultivate these
backwards relationships, which will be crucial for the firm to continue its business. Much like a
personal relationship, the durability of any business relationship depends a lot on trust, which is hard
to earn, but easy to lose. Trust must be carefully tended all the time, and never taken for granted.
Business development services sustainability. To help enterprises grow and create jobs, LED
engages BDS providers, i.e. technical specialists and consulting firms, for targeted, short-term
assignments to help firms overcome specific challenges. As noted, in most cases LED requires the
client to share 10-30% of the cost of the consultancy—although the amount can vary. Although it is
not always easy to convince a client to cost share for technical assistance—especially when many
other donor projects do not have the same requirements—some clients, in our view, seem willing
to accept this because they have more confidence in finding and benefiting from reliable consulting
services procured in part by LED. Therefore, although LED’s typical subsidy is limited—expected in
most cases to be a one-time engagement and generally ranging in value from $5,000 to $30,000
depending on the need and the expected number of new jobs—it can contribute to helping convince
clients to demand and pay for business services themselves.
As for the quality of Lebanon’s BDS providers, LED has found them to be generally of high quality.
This was also the conclusion of the 2015 report, Increasing Enterprise Growth and Jobs in Lebanon, that
was produced by the USAID Asia & Middle East Economic Growth Best Practices Program (AMEG).
The report noted that “Lebanon’s market for BDS is increasingly sophisticated and supports some
200 Lebanese consulting entities”, further highlighting that the sector is dynamic, as evidenced by
“the relatively high degree of consulting specialization and niche services offered, something which
typically only occurs in more mature consulting markets.” Lastly, the report’s authors concluded
that, “The Lebanese consulting industry is varied in its skill sets and sufficient in overall number to

address market needs.” Considering these findings, which ring true with LED’s first year findings, the
local consulting market does not seem to require additional capacity building from LED.
Partner sustainability. By partnering with Berytech and BIAT, Chemonics is ensuring that LED’s
problem-solving market-led approach to enterprise development will not end when the project
does. Instead, it can be carried forward by these partners and their partners. To further ensure this,
we will strengthen their capacity to apply LED’s market-led approach to enterprise competitiveness
and job creation through hands-on engagement with the BPP’s management and BAs, updating tools
and templates, and by organizing periodic all team workshops to share experiences and lessons
learned and discuss how the enterprise engagement process can be improved. In addition, LED’s
operations and finance team will continue supporting the BPPs on matters related to compliance
with USAID and Chemonics rules and regulations and on subcontract administration matters.
E2. SCALABILITY
On LED, we will focus on both the shorter- and longer-term scalability of our actions. In the short-
term, LED has broadened its reach by partnering with Berytech and BIAT and has created a pathway
for LED’s market-led approach to enterprise competitiveness and job creation to be scaled up by
our partners and theirs. Additionally, LED will use well-organized and targeted outreach and
communications to generate interest in our approach and promote its adoption by others. As part
of this, LED will collect, package, and distribute learnings from our experience with BLA in Lebanon.
In the longer-term, LED will be guided by the practitioners’ guide, “Scaling Up—From Vision to
Large-Scale Change9”, to consider what aspect/s of LED should be scaled, how we will do this, who
will be involved, and where scaling up should occur. This topic will be a focus area of LED’s learning
agenda since it relates closely to LED’s lines of inquiry related to employment creation practices.
E3. GENDER INTEGRATION
LED will strive to ensure that Lebanese men and women will equally participate in project activities
and benefit from job creation opportunities. To ensure female participation, LED will:
• Target women-owned and women-employed firms through direct business advisor outreach.
Women-owned businesses are firms that are at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by
one or more women. Women-employed firms are those in which the conditions and scope of
work of the required jobs are desirable by women in Lebanon, and/or match existing skills of the
female labor force, and therefore naturally attract female employees.
• Engage local women’s business groups that have databases of women-owned business and
businesses that readily employ women, especially in areas outside of Beirut. This will help LED
to expand its portfolio of women-owned businesses.
• Pursue partner opportunities with local vocational training programs for women, to facilitate
connections between expanding businesses and qualified female job-seekers if it proves to be a
high target of opportunity for LED.
• Look for and give preference to (all other things being equal) policy issues that face female
entrepreneurs. LED will give extra time and attention to women-owned or women-employed
client enterprises when trying to identify policy issues that may disadvantage women.
• Ensure that policy issues are analyzed through a gender lens by carefully analyzing issues to
determine which ones are the most relevant for women business-owners and/or women in
general, whether working women or women wanting to enter the formal economy.
• Tailor outreach efforts to reach women entrepreneurs and job seekers. By accessing networks
of women entrepreneurs and businesses that readily hire women, per the Objective 1
recommendation, business advisors will use these networks to ensure information regarding the
support LED has to offer reaches women-owned and women-employed businesses.
9Management Systems International, 2016. Scaling Up—From Vision to Large-Scale Change: A Management Framework for
Practitioners, Third Edition.

E4. ENVIRONMENT
LED is committed to complying with the 22 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 216 Environmental
Procedures and USAID’s Automated Directives System (ADS) Parts 201.3.11.2.b and 204. We will
comply with the LED Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), FY17 – FY22.
After reviewing the IEE, LED notes that the following recommended actions have been assigned to
the project objectives: Objective 1—Categorical Exclusion and Negative Determination with
Conditions and for Objectives 2-3—Categorical Exclusion.
Specifically, LED’s transaction support work to identify firms and then diagnose their binding
constraints and develop growth plans for them is recommended for Categorical Exclusion as per 22
CFR 216.2(c) (2) (i) as “education, technical assistance, or training programs”. These activities are
not expected to have any adverse environmental impact.
In cases where LED will be involved in activities such as upgrading production techniques and quality
control systems of businesses in the agriculture, industry, health, tourism, or other related sectors,
these might have an adverse effect on the natural or physical environment depending upon the
nature of the technical assistance provided. Therefore, the activities are recommended for Negative
Determination with Conditions as per 22 CFR 216.2(d)(2).
LED will prepare an Environmental Review and Assessment Checklist (ERAC) to identify
environmental effects of each specific activity. The ERAC will be approved by the COR and Mission
Environmental Officer (MEO). Based on the findings of the ERAC and the degree of significance of
potential environmental and social impacts, LED has two options: 1) if potentially significant
environmental and social impacts are identified, then LED will prepare an Environmental Mitigation
and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) to be approved by the COR and MEO; 2) if potentially severely
significant environmental and social impacts are identified by the ERAC, the LED a) will conduct a
scoping session with public consultation; b) shall prepare a scoping statement with SOW for an
Environmental Assessment (EA); c) shall conduct public consultations and prepare an EA report to
be approved by the Bureau Environmental Officer/Middle East (BEO/ME).
For LED’s systemic support, whereby the project will work on policy and institutional reform in
cases where the firms’ constraints are systemic; these interventions are not expected to have any
adverse environmental impacts and are recommended for Categorical Exclusion as per 22 CFR
216.2(c) (2) (i) as “education, technical assistance, or training programs” and 22 CFR 216.2(c) (2) (iii)
as “analysis, studies, academic or research workshops and meetings”.
Lastly, for LED’s MEL and communications and outreach work, these interventions are not expected
to have any adverse environmental impacts and are recommended for Categorical Exclusion as per
22 CFR 216.2(c) (2) (v) as “documents and information transfers.”
F. MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING

Monitoring progress, evaluating results, and learning from our work and experiences are important
functions of good production management. LED will be guided in carrying out these functions by its
MEL Plan, which is LED’s framework for performance monitoring—the continuous process of
collecting and analyzing data for performance indicators and comparing them to expected results—
and for project learning. This information is vital for making informed decisions.
F1. MONITORING
During the year, LED will monitor project activities as outlined in its approved MEL Plan and report
on progress using the agreed upon indicators and targets contained therein.

F2. EVALUATION
Currently, LED is not planning to conduct an evaluation of the project during year two.
F3. LEARNING
As in year one, learning during the project is envisaged along two primary directions:
1. Learning related to LED processes for engaging and supporting client enterprises
2. Learning related to job creation models and approaches.
As part of the first track, LED will regularly review and monitor the process through weekly
program meetings that help to ensure a smooth, consistent, and accelerating deal flow. In addition,
LED will periodically—roughly every six weeks—convene meetings with the BAs to discuss their
progress, address any issues, provide guidance and answer questions, and create an opportunity for
them to share experiences and best practices. Arising from these discussions, LED may need to
revise the enterprise engagement toolkit and its contents. Other issues arising from these meetings
may require additional documentation and analysis to support adaptation and course corrections.
Under track two, LED’s main interest is to understand: What does it take for a firm to create a
relatively large number of jobs in Lebanon? What does it take for these jobs maintained and expanded over
time? In year two, as our portfolio of assisted enterprise grows and technical assistance to year-one
clients ends, we will have a valuable cohort to study and convene for discussions. In addition, LED
will meet with other donor project that have similar goals but apply different approaches. As we
learn, we will produce technical notes that may help Lebanese firms to formulate their strategies,
plans, processes, and business development initiatives to create jobs or help firms outside of
Lebanon that operate under similar socio-economic circumstances.
G. ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

LED’s administrative and financial systems, inclusive of the human resources and procurement
functions, underpin the project because without them it could not operate. During year one, much
of the focus was on establishing LED’s systems. In year two, the focus will be on maintaining and
improving them so that all personnel are facilitated to do their work properly and professionally. To
that end, LED’s Operations and Finance Team, supported by LED management and Chemonics’
headquarters-based project management unit (PMU), will do the following:
• Maintain and improve, where possible, the project office and all equipment and furnishings.
• Maintain the project vehicles to ensure their continued safe and proper use.
• Implement, review, and improve, as applicable, LED’s security systems and protocols to ensure
the safety and security of personnel.
• Adhere to LED’s financial accounting and reporting procedures—seeking improvements were

applicable—to ensure good stewardship of project funds and accurately reporting on the same.
To support this effort, a member of the Chemonics headquarters-based project management
unit will carry out an assignment in Lebanon to ensure compliance by reviewing the project files,
training and coaching various staff members, and supporting LED management with other tasks.
• Adhere to and administer various aspect of LED’s Field Office Policy and Procedures Manual,
which contains guidance related to office protocol, standards of conduct, employment practices,
personnel (recruiting and hiring), personnel administration, information technology, and
communications and social media. Review and update the manual as required in consultation
with Chemonics home office.

• Organize refresher training for LED staff on policies and procedures, particularly after changes
have been made, to ensure that everyone understands them and know what is expected.
• Continue to ensure timely and compliant procurement of goods and services, especially the local
consultants and consulting firms that deliver technical assistance to LED client firms.
• Continue to ensure that proper due diligence is performed for all providers of goods and
services and administer the process of submitting vetting requests to the USAID Partner Vetting
System when applicable. (The new Mission Order 15/03 will reduce the number of submissions.)
• Support LED’s expatriate staff and dependents to obtain or renew their work permits and
residency permits, as applicable.
• Strengthen the LED team by organizing a team building workshop in March 2018 that uses the
Insights Discovery® tool. Organize other team building events throughout the year.

DISCLAIMER
This report is made possible with the support of the American People through the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of Chemonics
International, Inc. and do not necessarily reflect the view of USAID or the United States Government.

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This report was prepared for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

pursuant to Contract No. AID-268-C-17-00001, Lebanon Enterprise Development Project.

CHEMONICS INTERNATIONAL INC.

2 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 3

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 5

6 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

A2. THE IMPERATIVE OF EMPLOYMENT CREATION

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 7

2 Lebanon's Economic Outlook—October 2018, October 3, 2018, World Bank, page 1.

8 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

LED’s primary intervention is to assist enterprises—referred to as “client enterprise/s”, “client

LED-supported technical assistance is typically enterprise-specific and transactional—focused on

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 9

B. THE LED TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION

1. Adopt an inclusive definition of the buyer-led approach (BLA)—a market-led

10 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

3. Allocate resources to where there is the most opportunity. LED’s purpose is to

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 11

B3. CRITICAL ASSUMPTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION

12 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

C. DETAILED TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 13

C1a. LED’S STRATEGY FOR JOB CREATION

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 15

16 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

Exhibit 3: The Approach in Action

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 17

Exhibit 4: Enterprise Engagement Process—the 7 Steps

18 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

• Does the firm operate in one of the priority sectors?

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 19

Delivering cross-cutting solutions

20 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 21

Supporting groups of firms from target sectors, with emphasis on tourism

Building on Chemonics relationships nurtured and developed by senior tourism advisor

22 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

Economic Importance of Lebanon’s Tourism Sector

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 23

Overview of Tourism Sector Challenges

Supporting Tourism Industry Development

Selection Criteria and Objectives

24 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

Possible Industry Development Initiatives

• Organize a destination resilience and perception management seminar with TripAdvisor,

• Organize at least two know-your-market (KYM) and/or know-your-niche (KYN) seminars

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 25

3. Support positioning Lebanon as a destination of choice in the international marketplace

4. Facilitate private-sector-led industry-level competitiveness agenda

26 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

First, there must be a clearly identified problem.

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 27

28 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 29

C3a. PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH FOR OBJECTIVE 1

30 | LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 31

C3c. COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH PROTOCOL WITH USAID

LED 2nd ANNUAL WORK PLAN | 33