The work for providing OMSAR with a unified database for projects, programs, and studies proposed for the Lebanese government, was launched in the beginning of February 2002. A work team has been formed in order to carry out the following tasks:

1. Collecting more than 5500 references (in 3 languages Arabic, French, and English) from the different public administrations and agencies, international organizations such as UNDP, FAO, ESCWA, private sector institutions, NGO’s, universities, and consulting companies. These books cover the following topics:

·   Reform on the Administrative, Rural, and Regional Level

·   Industry

·   Agriculture

·   Environment

·   Social Services

·   Labor and Production

·   Information

·   Transport

·   Public Works

·   ICT

·   Infrastructures and Resources

·   Financial and Economical Sector

·   Tourism and Culture…

Out of this sum, developmental projects and studies were up to 1100. It must be mentioned that each project with its sub components were considered as only one project.

2. Classifying, documenting, enumerating, and scanning these studies and projects, then including all appropriate information on the webpage.

3. Issuing a “Hard Index for the Public Sector Studies and Projects” and distributing it to all senior officers and decisions makers. Today, this index is replaced by a CD that is periodically updated and put at the disposal of all public administrations.

4. Based on this index, the Prime Minister issued two circulars (no. 34/2002 dated 18/12/2002 and no. 8/2003 dated 15/3/2003), requesting from all public administrations and agencies, municipalities and associations of municipalities to coordinate with OMSAR as for any new reports and studies to be made for the public sector, in order to avoid redundancy and waste. In response to these circulars, OMSAR received many letters from various ministries and public administrations that were inquiring about the availability of specific studies.

5. Appointing coordinators for ministries and public agencies, in order to cooperate with the specific team that is dealing with the Public Sector Projects and Studies Center.

6. The members of the Public Sector Project and Studies Center supported some administrations in the establishment of a database aiming at the reorganization of their archives consisting of prepared studies and projects. As well, they supported other administrations in preparing new studies and reports.

7. Extending the project to cover academic community including universities students and specialized researchers who consider the project as a valuable source of scientific information, taking into consideration the existence of rare studies in respect of their issuance date (some studies were conducted in the fifties), or their origin (Ministry of Planning).