NATIONAL IDENTITY

“You need to understand that design is no longer the dress of the products – it is the soul,” says Vinaccia. Products nowadays, he says, need to be as aesthetically pleasing as they are functional. But they also need to tell a story that impresses the buyer with a unique image of the country that produced it.

In the heat of the United States’ global trade negotiations, geographic indicators (GIs) – names for products that correspond specifically to location of origin – stand out as a point of contention. GIs appeal to national identity and the Europeans, in negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the Americans, argue that regional foods like Greek feta or French champagne should be legally protected as intellectual property. The idea makes sense – in many cases GIs can be identified with historic connotations to their nation of origin. This means that wine produced in Napa Valley, for example, has brand name power and is thus quite lucrative for farmers and producers.

UNIDO’s idea to nurture Lebanese jewelry and furniture is similar. Tying national identity to the products would develop brand name recognition – ‘ made in Lebanon’ is a powerful sell, particularly to the expatriate community yearning for a piece of home. But it is premature to think they could be considered geographic indicators, and UNIDO does not anticipate branding protection as part of their strategy.

The history of producing jewelry in Bourj Hammoud and furniture in Tripoli, however, is real, and for some in UNIDO’s program, like Hadidian Jewelry, the business stretches back generations. The jewelry and furniture trades are symbolic of their respective neighborhoods, which Vinaccia says is a selling point.

Like Lebanon’s previous clusters, the UNIDO program is only possible through external funding – the European Union in this case. In the past, once funding dried up similar programs were discontinued and participants were left to soldier on with no one facilitating access to buyers in foreign markets. The UNIDO cluster project is still in its infancy, but if the model for the jewelry and furniture makers proves successful, the plan is to expand the program to other clusters, Cristiano Pasini, UNIDO’s country representative tells Executive. “We are doing something very meaningful for these two clusters – I’m sure we’re going to scale up.”