The Faculty of Business Administration and Economics (FBAE) at NDU-Shouf Campus organized an economic symposium with the presence of two distinguished guest speakers, Former Minister of Finance Dr. Damianos Kattar and Professor Elie Yachoui titled "The Role of Municipalities and Local Authorities in Stimulating Economic Development" on Thursday, March 30, 2017. The forum was moderated by the Journalist Ms. Sana Daou with the presence of heads of municipalities, bank managers, schools' Principals and a number of university professors, students and staff.
The symposium was initiated by a welcoming speech from the Director of the NDU-Shouf Campus Father Hanna Tayar who sincerely welcomed the guest speakers and the attendees. Fr. Tayar stressed on the importance of working on effective initiatives aimed at reducing displacement of the residents in the villages. This requires municipal work to follow sound and achievable plans in order to enhance local development, by involving citizens in decision-making. Father Tayar added that "we in educational institutions should also collaborate with municipalities and local authorities through conducting researches and lectures that could assist them in consolidating a promising vision based on scientific foundations rather than on individual or populist initiatives." The Coordinator of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics at NDU-Shouf Campus, Dr. Talie Kassamany briefly presented the academic programs and activities as well as students' achievements in the Faculty. He also introduced the guest speakers and their outstanding achievements.
After the welcoming words, the discussion started by the Economist Dr. Yachoui who differentiated between three basic concepts: development, growth and expansion. He believed that placing the burden of economic development on municipalities is not fair because municipal work is limited to providing basic services to the residents, while development is primarily the responsibility of the central government. In the case of a failure of the central state, then resorting to decentralization is advisable and giving greater powers to the municipalities through the activation of district councils while the central government focuses on the reform and execution of public policies.
On the other hand, the former Minister Dr. Damianos Kattar has considered that the local authority is an essential element in shaping the general policy and the role of the municipalities is important in development as they are close to their citizens. Dr. Kattar highlighted some of the problems faced by the municipalities due to the decline in their budgets as a result of difficulties in the collection process of fees, He placed some blame on the uniqueness of mayors' decisions and their influence on the success or failure of municipal councils. Dr. Kattar urged municipalities to develop programs and take actions based on what is provided and permitted by law and not on what is enforced by the programs of political parties. He concluded his valuable discussion by stressing on the importance of cooperation between NGOs and municipalities and advised municipalities to work towards some non-traditional sectors that can create jobs in the rural areas including the environment and technology sectors.
The second part of the seminar was devoted to the questions posed by journalists and heads of municipalities who focused on two main points: the negative impact of political interference in municipal work and the necessity of creating partnership projects with the private sector to make the municipal work a successful one and develop effective plans based on the needs and requirements of each region.
At the end of the seminar, Father Hanna Tayar expressed his gratitude to the guest speakers and the attendees for accepting the invitation and visiting the Shouf Campus. Father Tayar handed over the shields to the former Minister of Finance Dr. Damianos Kattar and Professor Elie Yachoui as well as to the journalist Mrs. Sana Daou as a symbol of appreciation and gratefulness, in addition to honoring each of the outstanding students in the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics Farah Al-Sharif and Ghiwa Al Ayash, who have won two awards through academic competitions among top universities in Lebanon.