UNSMIL convened a meeting of 19 Libyan economic experts representing the main Libyan financial and economic institutions as well as the different economic sectors
The experts, who took part in the meeting, were selected based on their capacity to represent interests from across the Libyan political and geographic spectrum.
The Libyan experts agreed that the Libyan economy was under duress due to the institutional fragmentation caused by the conflict and that this was having an increasingly detrimental impact on the daily lives of Libyans. It was also agreed that any comprehensive political settlement would require a mechanism to unify financial and economic policy as well as the institutions.
The participants discussed a proposal to establish a Libyan Expert Economic Commission (LEEC). This proposal was initially developed in preparation for the National Dialogue and has now been introduced in the Berlin process. Participants provided input on the prospective Terms of Reference of the LEEC including ideas on its purpose, mandate and structure.
The Berlin process is the second step in the three-step initiative to bring an end to the conflict laid out by SRSG Ghassan Salame in his July 2019 briefing to the Security Council. The third step is a Libyan-led process to reach a comprehensive settlement that addresses the underlying drivers to the Libyan crisis. This meeting in Tunis is part of the economic basket, complemented by a military track and a political track. UNSMIL is working to activate all three of these Libyan-led tracks this month.
Representatives from the international community were invited to portions of yesterday’s meeting to lend their support.
