Thus, a marriage between finance and industry is a must, if Lebanon's manufacturing industry ever intends to be considered as a serious candidate for international investor interest. So far the vast majority of Lebanese companies are simply too small to attract these pools of capital. If we are to learn anything from the history of developing nations, it is that the financial services industry must always move in tandem with the manufacturing industry to create the growth rate that is sought. It is sad to note that in this regards, the current Hariri administration seems to have completely missed the point. Unless Hariri obviously wants them to finance the country's internal public debt, then, this may explain why his government of cronies has been so complacent toward the manufacturing industry.
History is full of examples whereby wars decimated much larger economies.
Germany and Japan are just a few examples that come to mind. And during that critical period, neither of these countries had any competitive advantage vis a vis their neighbors. Yet, they bounced back and currently rule over both Europe and Asia. The main reason being that both their government and private sectors knew where to allocate capital. It is sad to note that capital in Lebanon is allocated to the Ministers with the most clout and the closest to Hariri and the Syrians disregarding the country's national interests.