Lebanon and Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics set the foundation to reduce Lebanon's annual trade costs by $1bn and the Levant by $4.5bn

For the first time, Ambassadors and Government officials from the Americas, Europe, Asia and MEA regions as well as multinational Finance, Insurance, and Technology Executives came together to witness the global benefits of the HumaWealth Program, a unique and ground breaking step towards a better and more sustainable global economy.

Amid the regional economic turmoil and the world's need for economic change and improvement, GCEL is successfully continuing its unprecedented initiative to reduce trade costs by making it more efficient, and creating millions of job opportunities.

Prior to the conference, The Ambassadors and Government Officials met with GCEL Members where they expressed the importance of this program. Further on, several members of the diplomatic corps conveyed their interest in holding future discussions to be a part of the deployment of The HumaWealth Program in their respective countries.

After its successful completion of the Shipment Efficiency Analysis (SEA) report for Malaysia, GCEL introduced its upcoming SEA reports in the MEA region.

The SEA surveys and reports, establish a new millennium standard for economic growth, measuring current performance throughout the entire trade pipeline against the benchmark of the peak performance that today's 21st century technology makes possible.

The SEA assesses six key areas: Integration, Processes, E-Documentation, Tracking and Visibility, Competence, and Cargo Security, which together represent the 21st Century 6 Element Trade Efficiency Indicators, or 21-6-ETEI.

The SEA is part of the sixth of seven phases comprising GCEL's HumaWealth Program, an 18-month global initiative to rapidly decrease landed import and export costs, increase trade volume, create jobs and boost economies in Lebanon, throughout the region and around the world. Upon deployment, it will provide the tools, free of cost to end users, to reduce Lebanon's landed import and export costs from 12% to 6%, saving nearly $1bn annually. HumaWealth will also provide the roadmap to reduce MEA trade costs by $74bn, increase Euro-Med region trade by $389bn, and create 32 million jobs in the South Med region.

Keynote speakers at the event included H.E. Mohamad Safadi, Lebanon's Minister of Finance; H.E. Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat, Chairman of the Asia Logistics Council and former Secretary General, Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI); and H.E. Dr. Abdulla Al Dardari, Director of ESCWA Economic Development and Globalization Division, UN-ESCWA.‬‬‬‬ GCEL Co-Chairman Captain Salloum emphasized the significance of the day's events.

"Today's collaboration is a tangible step towards empowering the digital economy and the renewed prosperity the world is looking for. In working to achieve the peak performance levels that technology makes possible, we will create a solid foundation for sustained economic growth," he said.

H.E. Mohammad Safadi, Minister of Finance, proclaimed, on the occasion of hosting this event the ministry confirms Lebanon's commitment towards the implementation of special international financial transparency laws and the ministry joins and acknowledges the efforts of GCEL in launching an international initiative, which seeks to empower economic growth and stimulate innovation and reduce trade costs.

H.E. Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat spent more than three decades within a Ministry that administered trade related matters, serving as the Secretary General of MITI. During this period he witnessed significant changes in the global trading environment.

In his speech H.E. Mamat announced, "In Malaysia, we have recently completed the Malaysia SEA report. Its results have provided both our government and our businesses with a roadmap to achieving operations excellence thereby making Malaysia even more competitive in the global economic arena to increase its exports and expand job creation."

The HumaWealth Program will deliver unprecedented benefits throughout the world including the reduction of annual trade costs by $700bn, expansion of trade by $1.2 trillion, and creation of nearly 100 million jobs worldwide. The program will also open a vast new global market for the region's finance, insurance, and technology firms, projected to reach $6 trillion by 2020.

H.E. Dr. Abdallah Al Dardari stated "GCEL's activities strongly complement what ESCWA is doing in the field of infrastructure and transport towards regional integration. ESCWA is a strong believer in the importance of reducing costs across borders in the Arab region as a tool for boosting trade, growth, and employment. Consequently, GCEL's success would contribute towards achieving these targets."

The Beirut event follows recent successful HumaWealth Awareness Events held in Tunisia, Jordan, and Turkey attended by senior government ministers and leading executives from the region's finance, insurance, and technology firms. GCEL also executed a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Union Commission engaging their leadership in the HumaWealth program in Beirut in April of 2012. Similar successful events and MOUs were executed in Asia. Future events are planned in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates during the coming weeks, with similar efforts planned in the Americas and Europe thereafter.

The Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics (GCEL) is a Swiss based non-profit public/private partnership. GCEL's HumaWealth Program is founded on revolutionary Soft Infrastructure that lays the foundation for the 21st century global digital trade platform. Through a highly innovative business model, this platform will be provided free of cost to every business in the world, insuring sustainability of the system at the highest levels. This global initiative will make millions of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) more bankable by providing them with the tools to reduce their trade costs by 30% and operating costs by 15% while connecting them to markets around the world.

In addition, the program will create a vast new $6 trillion market opportunity for the world's finance, insurance, and technology industries by 2020. GCEL's members and supporters include 156 governments, 21 NGOs and the world most prominent finance, insurance and technology firms servicing 60% of the world's GDP.

Lebanon's Ministry of Finance leads the Government's economic reform through sound formulation and management of fiscal policy and public debt in order to foster sustainable economic growth in alignment with national priorities, acting as a role model for transparency, and accountability, in a manner that reflects good governance. Its objectives include, but are not limited to, fostering stable financial institutions and markets as well as facilitating the development of the national economy and international trade.

Lebanon's Ministry of Economy and Trade is responsible for implementing the government's objectives for international and domestic trade development, trade legislation, consumer protection, economic research as well as SME development and access to loan guarantees.

Its programs target various sectors including renewable energy, water management, local development, livelihoods and economic recovery, local socio-economic development and institutional capacity building.