Innholdsfortegnelse for Volume 6 - 2022 i Lebanon Opportunities

More than three years have passed since the collapse of the monetary and financial system, and the dilemma of deposits still dominates, almost exclusively, the narrative in politics, corridors of power, public and televised forums, and the press, in a sterile debate about the “fair” distribution of responsibilities, the so-called losses, and how to calculate them. There is currently no consensus or even convergence among political, economic, or societal stakeholders on this issue. Meanwhile, we overlook the other components of the economic crisis, and the tools that are still, or may become, available to reduce unemployment, raise wages, balance the budget, and revive public services. A roadmap to chart the economy is needed indeed. Dealing with the past There must not be “let bygones be bygones,” or amnesty, on either…

Promomedia, the leading Out-of-Home advertising company across the Levant and Africa, is proud to announce that it was the first company to provide synchronized billboards in the entire MENA region. The company installed three consecutive billboards in the Lebanese regions of Ashrafieh – Burj Al Ghazal and five consecutive billboards in Dora that are 100% synchronized, giving drivers a real-time presentation. Promomedia, which is part of JGroup, has also recorded a significant win by becoming the sole advertiser at Beirut International Airport. This victory is a testament to the company's reputation as a leading outdoor supplier in the MENA region, with a network of more than 7,500 faces including digital billboards, unipoles, rooftops, wall signs, bridges, lampposts and 4x3 backlits scattered throughout the capitals and main cities of Lebanon, Iraq,…

Provided by Airport duty-free tender annulled after being awarded The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) has decided to cancel the public auction through which Phoenicia Aer Rianta Co. (PACDuty Free) was temporarily awarded a deal to operate the duty free market at Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport. MPWT said it has taken this decision, which is in line with the public procurement law, because a huge difference in the exchange rate of the US dollar to the lira had occurred from the time when the opening price was determined and the time of awarding the contract. It said that in the new auction, the opening price will be revised and will be in dollars. The contract temporarily awarded to PACDuty Free comprised a fixed amount of LL1.12 trillion…

Name Hourie Energy Solutions Sal Capital (Shares) LL30,000,000 (1,000) Directors Ramzi Mounir Selmane (Chairman & Gen. Mgr), Kevork Vartan Sissilian, Mohamed Ali Chakar (250), Sami Mohamed-Kamal Azhari (10), Entreprises A.R. Hourie Sal (Holding)(740) Reg. address Ashrafieh 1046 Sal Property, Beirut Object General trade, import, export, commerce and installation of batteries and solar energy Bank BLOM Bank Solicitor Me Dalia Samir Yaghi Khoury Auditor Roger Jean Ajami Name National Company for Food Processing Sal Capital (Shares) LL30,000,000 (3,000) Directors Mohamed Ahmad Safadi (Chairman & Gen. Mgr) (2,250), Samar Salim Boulos (150), Dia Ahmad Abdelraouf Cobtan (150) Shareholders Samer Moutih Fatfat (150), Ahmad Abdelmagid Khalaf (150), Tarek Issam Alam (150) Reg. address Al-Ghazal Tower, General Fouad Chehab Avenue, Saifi, Beirut Object General trade, commerce, industry and packaging of food products, beverages, fruits…

India A large portion of the population is unbanked and cash transactions are the norm China Despite its rapid economic growth, cash is still widely used in rural areas Russia Cash transactions are common due to lack of trust in banks and a large informal sector Brazil Cash transactions are prevalent due to lack of access to banking services and a large informal sector Mexico Cash transactions are common in informal markets and among small businesses Italy Cash transactions are common due to a cultural preference for cash payments and tax dodging Non-Gulf Arab countries Cash transactions are prevalent due to their large informal sector…

Soundbytes Maritime border demarcation Lebanon has the right to consider that what was achieved is a historic achievement. Completing the demarcation agreement will pull Lebanon out of the abyss which it was thrown into Then President Michel Aoun It is a historic agreement. Lebanon has obtained all its demands Elias Bou Saab, Deputy Speaker of Parliament We lost 13 years in populist debates, positions, and useless discussions Former Prime Minister Fouad Seniora It is a great historic achievement. It is a positive matter when the country’s leaders say that the agreement has achieved Lebanon’s demands Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah It is a historic agreement. Israel has obtained all its demands Yair Lapid, Then Israeli Prime Minister We intend to employ 100,000 Lebanese Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin…

Provided by Solidere posts loss Solidere has reported a loss of $21.5 million for 2021 compared with a net profit of $20.7 million in the previous year. The loss was mainly derived from a sharp fall in revenues from land sales, the largest revenue item, which plummeted by $297 million or 78 percent. The revenues from land sales, amounting to $85 million in 2021, pertain to property sales in Beirut Central District. Around $63 million of land sales realized in 2021 were unaccounted for although the deals were concluded and the prices fully settled, a Solidere statement read. This is because the formalities relating to these transactions were not completed due to frequent closures of the Directorate of Land Registration and Cadastre, the real estate company said. Solidere still has…

Provided by Human Development Index craters to below global average Lebanon’s Human Development Index (HDI) continued the downturn it started with the onset of the crisis and reached in 2021 its lowest value since the country’s HDI records began in 2005, according the ‘Human Development Report 2021/2022’ of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The country’s HDI had always been higher than the global HDI average until 2020 when it dropped below that average for the first time even though the world average itself has been witnessing a concurrent downtrend and fell in 2021 back to its 2016 levels. The UNDP said in the report: “For the first time on record, the global Human Development Index (HDI) has dropped for two years in a row, taking the world back to…

The economic crisis that has hit Lebanon since 2019 coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic and the explosion of the Port of Beirut have deeply impacted the country’s economy making this crisis rank among the worst economic crises globally since the mid-nineteenth century. GDP per capita dropped by 36.5 percent between 2019 and 2021, and in July 2022, Lebanon was reclassified by the World Bank as a lower-middle income country down from upper middle-income status. In this context, Local Economic Development (LED) is vital for any serious attempt at economic response and recovery, especially given the timid and delayed responses at the national level. A growing feature for sustainable economies LED is an approach towards economic development which enables and encourages local actors to work together to achieve sustainable economic growth…

Agreen Organics Founder and CEO: Rudolph Elias www.agreen.org Founded in 2018 Sells organic food mainly produced by farmers while it produces some of the products by itself. The company has been an eco-friendly business since inception. Its entire electricity supply is generated from solar power. Agreen Organics, which sells part of its products in glass jars and bottles, asks its customers to return these containers when empty. This enables these customers to make new purchases at a cheaper price. The company is going a step further to collect used glass jars and bottles from consumers regardless of the brand. It will cooperate with waste collection companies and organizations to achieve this goal. Agreen will sterilize the glass containers using its solar-powered dishwashers and will then resell them mainly to food…

Provided by Gargour signs deal with Magneti Marelli Gargour Mobility has concluded an agreement with Magneti Marelli Parts & Services to be the official distributor in Lebanon of the Italian company’s automotive parts and components. Gargour Mobility, a subsidiary of the automobile distribution company T. Gargour & Fils, will also be involved in after-sales and maintenance services. As a first step, a 2,375 m2 Magneti Marelli Checkstar center which comprises workshops and body shops and distributes over-the-counter parts was opened in the Medawar district of Beirut to service all car brands. “From programmed servicing to electronics, computerized diagnostics, and the substitution of every single component in a car, the center provides a complete service with the aim of offering excellent levels of vehicle servicing, maintenance, and repair to multiple car…

Provided by Official exchange rate at LL15,000 Starting next February, the official exchange rate will be devalued from LL1,507 to LL15,000 to the US dollar, according to Riad Salameh, Governor of the Central Bank (BDL). Dollars withdrawn by depositors from their bank accounts will be paid in lira at the new official exchange rate. Prior to this change, the applied rates were LL12,000 for funds subject to BDL Circular 158 and LL8,000 for those governed by Circular 151. These and other similar circulars are likely to be cancelled once a capital control law is approved by Parliament. Salameh said that the upcoming law will govern the relationships between depositors and banks. He said this is an additional step towards unifying the exchange rates. It started with the customs exchange rate…

Elias Alouf Managing Director of I&C Bank Elias Alouf has been appointed as Managing Director of FFA Private Bank which has been renamed Investment and Capital Bank (I&C). The bank aims to benefit from the commercial banking skills of Alouf who was previously General Manager of BSL Bank. The change in leadership and changing the bank’s name are part of I&C’s new lending strategy. Alouf said that I&C will add corporate lending to its existing range of activities which includes private banking, investment banking, and wealth management. During his 30-year experience in the banking sector, Alouf was involved in strategic planning, retail banking, and treasury management. He holds an MSc in Financial Management from the University of London with a focus on banking and finance. Kristina Mikulova Representative of the…

The government, in its plans, is still calling to write off most of the remaining dollar-denominated savings in banks that exceed $100,000, despite the losses already incurred by depositors resulting from measures taken and the failure to implement any reforms. The amended government plan issued on September 9 proposed new methods to write off most dollar deposits – by writing off excess interest on deposits, writing off unqualified deposits that were converted from lira to dollar after October 17, converting deposits into bank issued shares and bonds in lira, and transferring the remainder to a ‘Deposit Recovery Fund’. The State’s plan proposes to secure the recovery of excess deposits, according to the government’s description, estimated at more than $80 billion out of $99 billion, through a fictitious fund that will…

Conducting business in cash in the 21st century is an outlandish oddity when the rest of the world is moving towards a cashless society. The widespread use of cash is affecting businesses in many ways including hindering expansion and precluding financing of working capital. Companies also have to address the logistical and security issues involved in handling large bulk of cash. Most small and medium sized enterprises have practically joined the informal sector, and are heavily relying on cash transactions. The cash economy also heightens risks of tax evasion and money laundering. On the bright side, electronic money transfer (EMT) providers (see page 54) are seizing the opportunity to fill some of the gap left by the banking fiasco. Barriers to expansion Businesses are trying to cope with the transformation…