PBS高端访谈:黎巴嫩在叙利亚的重建中觅得经济机会

Judy Woodruff: But first, Syria's grinding civil war has led to destruction on an astonishing scale. Great swathes of the country lie in ruins. But now plans for rebuilding are beginning to take shape.

As special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports from neighboring Lebanon, it's a task that will be haunted by the divisions that tore Syria apart.

Jane Ferguson: The devastation¹ of nearly seven punishing years of war in Syria is massive, second only to the terrible human suffering, the loss of homes, infrastructure², entire towns and cities.

The United Nations predicts it will cost at least $250 billion to rebuild and repair the battered³ country. But across the border in Lebanon, some see opportunity. People in the coastal⁴ city of Tripoli are hoping reconstruction⁵ projects pass through here. In a country still trying to recover from its own civil war which ended in 1990, a generation ago, investment and jobs are desperately⁶ needed here.

Dr. Ahmad Tamer: From the history, Tripoli is a very important city for the commercial and trade of Syria and Iraq.

Jane Ferguson: Dr. Ahmad Tamer is the manager of Tripoli's commercial port. An expansion project has already begun here, with the port's ability to process four million tons of goods expected to reach six million within the next two years. That, he says, will help it act as an import hub for goods and construction materials on their way into Syrian cities.

Dr. Ahmad Tamer: It's very close to the Syria border, so we can present all kinds of services for the trader, for everything from Syria.

Jane Ferguson: Tripoli is a half-hour drive from the Syrian border, and it acted as a crucial import hub for Syrian cities such as nearby Homs for generations.

Fawaz Hamidi: Historically, we live from trade, and we are very flexible to deal with any situation.

Jane Ferguson: Fawaz Hamidi runs the special projects department in Tripoli's Chamber⁷ of Commerce. The city's businesses, he says, are poised⁸ to enjoy a boom from Syria's reconstruction.

Fawaz Hamidi: We have a long history of trade in Tripoli. Effectively, Tripolitans are traders. And our historical role used to service Syria, Iraq and even the Gulf⁹ through the Mediterranean¹⁰. We are also — in the region, we are different in the way that we can create a link between east and west.

Jane Ferguson: Small businesses in Tripoli are also hoping to benefit. In the ancient old quarter of the city, Khaled Halepi runs a curtains and fabric¹¹ store. He is a proud third-generation shop owner, and is confident traders like him will be in high demand once reconstruction starts.

Khaled Halepi: Now all the factories in Syria are gone. So they will take their products from Tripoli. We are the gate here.

Jane Ferguson: You feel like for yourself here?

Khaled Halepi: Yes, even for myself.

Jane Ferguson: Curtains?

Khaled Halepi: Yes, curtains, textiles, carpets, everything.

Jane Ferguson: You could see markets opening up for you in Homs, Aleppo?

Khaled Halepi: Homs, especially Homs. They are the nearest to Tripoli, that Homs. Homs needs everything. All the factories have gone there. They need everything.

Jane Ferguson: It might not be that simple, however. After six years of sectarian war, commerce is now political.

Assad and his family are allied¹² with Shia forces. The opposition¹³ in Syria is predominantly Sunni, as are the people in Tripoli.

The business community here has had strong ties to Syria for generations. But many in this largely Sunni city backed the opposition when the war broke out in Syria. That could mean they risk being shut out of reconstruction efforts by the surviving Syrian government.

Jane Ferguson: Old relations between Sunni Lebanese traders and Syrians might well be outdated¹⁴ now, says economist¹⁵ Sami Nader.

Sami Nader: What we have seen in place, it's a total transformation¹⁶ of the demography¹⁷ in Syria. There is no more Sunni in Homs, for instance. And, usually, the economic access or that economic trade route was Tripoli, Homs being the two big Sunni cities.

In Homs, for instance, there is a total transformation of the demographics. The social fabrics¹⁸ have changed. Are the Sunnis today of Tripoli the ideal partners to deal with a pro-Assad regime businessman? I'm not sure of that.

Jane Ferguson: Instead, lucrative¹⁹ contracts are likely to go to those who backed the Assad regime. Iran and Russia helped save Bashar al-Assad's rule, sending their militaries and proxies²⁰, like Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah militia²¹, to fight for his government.

As a literal form of payback, business deals are now being signed. Last year, $1 billion worth of deals in construction, oil, gas and mining went to Russia. Companies linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards signed deals this year in telecommunications, and they are already rebuilding Syria's power grid²².

The U.S. has said it won't contribute funds until there is a political process to replace Assad. That looks increasingly unlikely, leaving Western countries and others opposed to his rule facing a dilemma²³: how to fund reconstruction in Syria without helping²⁴ Assad and his loyalists.

In the meantime, the system will remain a corrupt²⁵ one, based on who you know. And businesses from places like Tripoli, where they opposed Assad, could struggle.

Sami Nader: If we don't have in Syria a governance system that will ensure a fair trade relationship, someone that will abide²⁶ by the rule of law not, by the rule of some and by the rule of mafia, I don't see Tripoli taking great advantage of this effort of reconstruction.

Jane Ferguson: Business leaders here say they aren't discouraged.

Fawaz Hamidi: Whoever is there and whatever is going to happen, we have no enemies in the region, not on the east and not in the west and not in Iran and not in the Arab world. We are friends with everybody, and we are open to do business with everybody.

Jane Ferguson: It's still not known who will fund the reconstruction effort in Syria, much less oversee²⁷ such an enormous task.

Separating business from politics after such a bitter war may very well be all but impossible.

For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Jane Ferguson in Tripoli, Lebanon.

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

4 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

5 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

6 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

10 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

11 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

12 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

14 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

15 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

16 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

17 demography   

n.人口统计，人口学

参考例句：

• Demography is the analysis of population variables.人口学是对人口变量的分析。
• It was once a rule of demography that people have fewer children as their countries get richer.按人口统计学的一贯规律，一个国家里的人民越富有，他们所拥有的孩子就越少。

18 fabrics   

织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地

参考例句：

• cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
• The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。

19 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

20 proxies   

n.代表权( proxy的名词复数 )；（测算用的）代替物；（对代理人的）委托书；（英国国教教区献给主教等的）巡游费

参考例句：

• SOCKS and proxies are unavailable. Try connecting to XX again? socks和代理不可用。尝试重新连接到XX吗？ 来自互联网
• All proxies are still down. Continue with direct connections? 所有的代理仍然有故障。继续直接连接吗？ 来自互联网

21 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

22 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

23 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

24 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

25 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

26 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

27 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。