Top 16 stories for year 2016. The year of the billions

Contrary to belief that 2016 was a 'sluggish' year for the economy, it has been fairly positive, but not for all sectors. The private sector, municipalities, and banks have worked for a better future. Private firms and entrepreneurs took the electricity issue into their own hands to privately generate power. Solar power farms are beginning to pop up around the country. The World Bank injected $1.1 billion in loans for the Country Partnership Framework 2017-2022. The 'deal of the century' occurr...

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Touristic village in Lamartine Valley. Hotel, 40 villas on 120,000 square meter plot

A touristic village is being planned in the Lamartine Valley, Metn, by Metra Decoration, a Dubai-based contracting company owned by Nabih El-Mougrabi. Investment in the project is $35 million. Construction will begin in late 2017 and is expected to be completed within three years. The village is yet to be named.

A five-star hotel comprising 80 rooms, as well as 40 villas will be included on the 120,000 square meter (m2) plot. The total built-up area is 25,000 m2.

The project will ...

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Electricity subcontracts renewed with two companies for four years.

BUS, part of the Butec Group and NEUC of Debbas Group have concluded negotiations with Electricité du Liban (EDL) to undertake power distribution, maintenance, and bill collection operations for a second four-year period.

"The decision awaits the approval of the Ministry of Energy and Water for the renewal and Ministry of Finance for the budget," said a source close to deal.

The contract conditions remain unchanged. The two firms are required to install smart meters during t...

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SGBL finances MEA Airbus purchase.

Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL) is financing the purchase of a new Airbus A330-243 for Middle East Airlines (MEA). The value of the loan is $65 million. It constitutes 80 percent of the plane's value ($81 million), according to MEA. It will be paid back over a ten-year period at a minimum four percent interest rate.

SGBL Chairman Antoine Sehnaoui said: "We have financed MEA to confirm our continuous support to the growth of the local economy."
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First container vessel to dock in Tripoli Port. To ferry 110 containers to Europe and Gulf

Port of Tripoli (PoT) is expecting the arrival of the first container vessel, Cielo di Agadir, carrying a Moroccan flag, tomorrow.

The vessel is part of CMA CGM's fleet.

The vessel is around 185 meters long and 25.5 meters wide. It will dock in a 15 meter-deep quay.

Cielo di Agadir is carrying 70 containers inbound, weighing around 8,700 tons.

Ahmad Tamer, PoT Director, said: "We expect to process 45,000-65,000 containers in 2017 which will lead to a 50 percent grow...

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Naameh retail strip launched by Trillium. Units selling at $3,800 per square meter

Trillium Holding has launched 'The Strip N', a retail center on the Naameh highway. Investment is $50 million.

The development includes 36 units on a plot measuring more than 6,000 square meters (m2). A public park is also being included.

"We have sold 20 units, including to Si Bon and Fakhani," said Sylva Nehme, Senior Sales Consultant at Trillium Holding, of which Moustapha Ahmad is CEO.

The starting price for a four-level unit is $3,800 per m2. Each unit is composed of a...

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Climate change to cost $320 million by 2020. To cause slower growth in GDP

Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) will likely have large direct and indirect economic costs on the country, according to Lebanon's Third National Communication to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The report was jointly published by the Ministry of Environment, UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The cost of GHG emissions is forecasted to reach $320 million in 2020 and $23.2 billion in 2080.

"Direct costs would materialize...

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Royal Wings starts Beirut-Aqaba flights.

The Jordan-based Royal Wings airline has begun direct flights from Aqaba to Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport. Flights will be twice weekly on Mondays and Fridays.

Nada Sardouk, Director General of the Ministry of Tourism, said: "Jordanian nationals were one of the most frequent tourists to the country. The new route will also allow Lebanese nationals to get introduced to Aqaba and vice versa."

She said that this initiative is a good opportunity for tourism agencies and h...

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Japan supports SMEs in Bekaa.

The Ministry of Industry signed a cooperative agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bekaa.

Dany Jedaoun, Director General at the Ministry, said that after studying the needs of the factories in Bekaa we chose to support mostly the bakery and pastry segement.

JICA will finance $100,000 for the project, which will provide training for more than one hundred people working in this subsector. Four bakeries wi...

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EuroMena closes third fund for $150 million.

EuroMena said it has completed the second and final closing of its third fund EuroMena III for a total of $150 million. As of December 2016, EuroMena III had invested in three companies at a total of $60 million, the company said in a statement.

These companies are in the retail and banking sectors, as well as the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. They operate in Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Lebanon.

"We expect the Fund to be fully invested by end of 2017," sai...

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Cabinet finally declared with elections as first goal. Veteran politicians, some technocrats, one female

After 47 days of trying, a Government of 29 ministers plus its Premier have been appointed. With the exception of the Kataeb party, all political groups have been represented.

The portfolios that significantly impact the economy had the following ministers appointed:

Ghassan Hasbani, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health, is a former Booz consultant, and Executive President of International Operations at Saudi Telecom Company

Marwan Hamadeh, Minister of Educat...

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Speed@BDD to launch initiative with LAU.

Speed@BDD, a startup accelerator and the Lebanese American University (LAU) will launch an entrepreneurship initiative entitled "Achieving Creative Entrepreneurs" (ACE), a series of workshops delivered by Speed@BDD mentors. The startup accelerator will also complete its third three-month acceleration program for five tech startups on December 20. $150,000 was invested in the startups during the three-month cycle and an equivalent amount in 'in-kind' services. A fourth batch of accelerators is d...

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$25 million from Kuwaiti Fund for refugee host communities.

The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) signed two loan and grant agreements with the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) for the purpose to carry out public works.

The $25 million grant will be dedicated to communities that are hosting Syrian refugees. The funds will be used to execute health, water, wastewater, and municipal capacity building projects.

Nabil Jisr, Chairman of the CDR, said: "These projects help host communities face the social and eco...

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$3.4 billion in projects being overseen by CDR. Water, solid waste, and wastewater funded the most

The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) is supervising $3.4 billion worth of public works, according to its Progress Report 2016. The value of all works, completed and underway, since 1992, is $8.7 billion.

Works are divided over four sectors: Basic services, infrastructure, productive sectors, and socioeconomic sectors.

The sector that received most funding with contracts underway is basic services, whereby $2 billion worth of projects are being executed. Basic servic...

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Naameh landfill now generating power.

Naameh landfill waste is being used to generate more than six megawatts of electricity through seven production units.

Located onsite, the plant is connected to 15 kilovolt transmission lines that transport the electricity to neighboring villages.

"The gas is enough to run the plant for the next ten years," said Kamal Hayek, Chairman of Electricité du Liban.

Nabil Jisr, Chairman of the Council for Development and Reconstruction, said that the plant is one of its kind...

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Sanita to manufacture paper cups in Hosrayel. Plans to produce paramedical products

Sanita, a member of Indevco Group and a manufacturer of household, institutional, and personal care products, will open in April a factory for the production of paper cups, under the brand name of 'Sanita Club'. The factory will be located in the industrial zone of Hosrayel, Jbeil, of which around 1,500 square meters (m2) will be dedicated for the new facility. Investment is more than $3 million.

Chadi Kreidy, General Manager of the 'Away from Home' business at Sanita, said: "Demand for ...

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Italians grant loans for renewable energy.

The Ambassador of Italy Massimo Marotti has announced a €5 million ($5.5 million) soft loan to be granted for the implementation of renewable energies in residential buildings.

The loan will be pooled into the National Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Action (NEEREA) mechanism funding. NEEREA loans are subsidized by the Central Bank (BDL) with near zero percent interest rate over 14 years.

Rani Achkar, senior programs engineer at the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (...

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Bookwitty, Keeward, Levant merge into a $100 million group. MedSecurities to raise $20 million

Bookwitty, a global, multilingual book retail platform, Keeward, a digital production company, and Levant Distributors, an international book and press distributor, will form one company, yet to be named. The Keeward Group Holding will be the parent company. MedSecurities Investment, a brokerage arm of Bankmed, is mandated to raise $20 million in a private placement for the combined group. The new funds will help the company to expand to six new countries across Africa, Europe, and the Americas....

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Bank Audi has launched a payment card service for taxis.

Payment cards such as MasterCard, Visa, PayPass and Paywave can now be used as payment for taxi journeys.

This follows an announcement made by Bank Audi that said it has launched a Wireless Taxi Terminals payment system that accepts 'swipe', 'Chip & PIN', and contactless transactions.

Transactions are processed in real time, which is the first of its kind on the local market, the bank said.

The Wireless Taxi Terminals system includes two control units, the passenger PIN ...

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BSEC launches securitization for Gargour.

BEMO Securitization (BSEC) said it has launched a $15.7 million securitization investment fund for automobile distributor T. Gargour & Fils (TGF).

The fund, named TGF Star II SIF, has issued two classes of notes against its purchases of auto loans extended by TGF to its customers. Senior class 'A' notes that have a total amount of $13.35 million and a maturity of 3.75 years have been placed with local banks and an investment fund. One subordinated class 'B' note, valued at $2.35 million,...

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Women Business Angels Program managed by IM Capital.

Lebanese league for Women in Business (LLWB) is launching a Master Class for Women Business Angels (MWBA), a one-year program for individual female-only angel investors. The program is expected to start in the first quarter of 2017. It will be managed by IM Capital.

Each registered participant on the program will pool a $10,000 entry ticket which is placed in a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for investment (typically a Lebanese holding company), in which each participant is an equal shareh...

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7 million passengers so far this year at the airport. Flights fully booked in December

The total number of passengers, including arrivals, departures, and those transiting, had reached 7.2 million as of November, according to airport figures.

These figures are expected to exceed 7.5 million by the end of the year.

Airport activity has increased 6.5 percent year-to-date.

Mohamad Chehabeddine, Director of Civil Aviation, said: "Local political stability has encouraged Arabs as well as European visitors."

Chehabeddine said that flights are fully booked ...

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Nuts and kernels factory by Daher Foods. To produce 10,000 tons per year

Daher Foods, manufacturer of Master potato chips, will open in June a nuts and kernels factory in Ferzol, Bekaa. Investment is estimated at $9 million

The factory will have a total built-up area of 7,000 square meters (m2) and will produce up to 10,000 tons of nuts per year.

Michel Daher, Chairman of Daher Foods, said that the products will carry the 'Master' brand name.

Daher said: "It will be easy to market this new line because we already have our own distribution flee...

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BLC Bank shuts down investment subsidiary. To focus more on commercial banking

BLC Bank, part of the Fransabank group, has shut down its investment subsidiary, BLC Invest.

The bank said in a statement that it is concentrating on commercial banking activities and for this reason, it has absorbed all of the assets and liabilities of BLC Invest. It said that it has provided continuity to all BLC Invest employees who have expressed a wish to stay on.

"All outstanding activities of BLC Invest are now assumed by BLC Bank," the bank said.

A person familiar ...

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Régie invests over $7 million for fourth production line.

Régie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs (Régie), the State-owned tobacco monopoly, will add a fourth production line in 2017, increasing production by 50 percent. Investment in the expansion is $7.5 million. The line will be dedicated to the production of four new types of local cigarettes.

Production rates this year have already reached 400,000 boxes (500 packs per box), an increase of around 75 percent compared to 2015.

Nassif Seklawi, Director General of Rég...

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Cedar Executive to receive second private jet.

National flag carrier Middle East Airlines' (MEA) subsidiary Cedar Executive has ordered a second Embraer Legacy 500 which is scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2017.

The new addition is expected to help meet growing demand in jet travel from companies and business individuals.

The Beirut-based company launched services with the Legacy 500 last year to complement its commercial airline offering, and to plug a gap in the market for ad hoc VIP travel. MEA acquired a lo...

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Hotels full for the holidays. Stability boosts hospitality

Travel reservations from December 10 till early January are fully booked, according to Jean Abboud, Chairman of the Association of Travel Agencies. More than 110 daily flights will arrive at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport during this period.

Abboud said that airplanes are full to capacity and that the passenger list includes expatriates, as well as Arab tourists.

"Political stability is the reason behind this revival," he said.

Hotel occupancy rates five days pr...

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$14 billion raised by the Central Bank. Nets around $5 billion from abroad

The Central Bank ended last month the closing of around $14 billion, or more, in a series of swaps, issuance of certificate of deposits (CDs), and other financial instruments, in what Lebanon Opportunities called in its December issue "The deal of the century".

Lebanon Opportunities said: "This series of parallel transactions is shrouded in mystery. It was de rigueur for the Ministry of Finance and banks to produce fanfares and self-congratulatory statements at every successful – often ...

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Two real estate indices launched by InfoPro. Price Index down, Inventory Index up

InfoPro Research has launched the Residential Real Estate Price Index and Residential Real Estate Inventory Index. The two indices are primary indicators of the housing market's health. The indices track price evolution and apartment inventory of new residential stock across Administrative Beirut, Beirut suburbs, and the main urban and coastal areas of the Metn, Baabda, Keserouan, and Aley cazas.

The Price Index tracks the asking price and not the sales price of apartment units. The Inve...

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Oger sells 20 percent stake in Arab Bank for $1.12 billion. Buyers include Arab investors and bank’s chairman

Sabih Masri, Chairman of Arab Bank Group, and Jordanian, Saudi, and other Arab investors agree with Oger Middle East Holding to buy the latter's 20 percent stake in Arab Bank. The stake was priced at $1.12 billion and the share price at 6.25 Jordanian dinars ($8.75), according to media reports citing Ghassan Aqeel, Deputy Managing Director of Astra Industrial Group.

Required measures are being taken to complete the deal, according to a statement Masri made to the Amman Stock Exchange. <...

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MEA to add four new aircraft. To install second flight simulator

Middle East Airlines (MEA), the national flag carrier, plans to add four new aircraft to its fleet. The firm will either buy or rent the planes. Two will be delivered in 2019, and the remaining in 2020.

Mohammad El Hout, Chairman of MEA, said: "Negotiations are in the final phase. The planes will either be Airbus or Boeing." The company said that it will come to a final decision in January.

MEA currently has a fleet of 18 aircraft, which it either owns or rents.

According ...

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CMA CGM to start operations at Tripoli Port. Islamic Development Bank approves loan

Port of Beirut transshipment operator CMA CGM has opened offices at the Port of Tripoli (PoT) where it will soon begin operations, according to Ahmad Tamer, Director General of PoT.

Other companies that joined PoT this year include Danish firm Maersk, UAE-based United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), Italian Tarros, and Turkish Arkas.

PoT has decided to set the price of container handling fees between nine and 12 percent. Port fees have been reduced by 53 percent compared to other por...

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$50 million private equity targets family businesses. Fund not part of circular 331

Banker Fouad Rahme, and a group of private investors and bank institutions, have established a private equity fund to invest in local small and medium companies. The size of the fund will be $50 million.

Rahme said that the first closing will be $25 million, out of which $12 million has already been committed from banking institutions and investors. The fund will be activated once the entire amount has been collected.

Unlike most such funds recently established, this one will no...

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Glass factory to open in Zahleh. Investment to exceed $10 million

Glasspack, a newly established company, will open in mid-2018 a factory for the manufacturing of glass bottles and jars in Zahleh's industrial city, bringing the total number of the country's glass operators to three. Investment in the Glasspack plant will exceed $10 million.

Owned by Abdallah Rizk, the plant will have a total built-up area of 11,000 square meters (m2). Glass production will exceed 60,000 tons of glass per year, including transparent and green glass.

Energy-e...

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Design hub iopened n Bourj Hammoud. Restaurant, café, and sports club planned

A former stainless steel factory on Bourj Hammoud's seaside road has been transformed into D Beirut, a design hub hosting nine outlets. Future plans include a café and restaurant, and a rooftop sports club, as well as an additional floor of design outlets, according to Raymond Jureidini, who, with his brother, Eric, owns the hub. They are also co-partners of Solarco stainless steel manufacturing company.

Investments have been put into infrastructure, such as roads that surround t...

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Museum dedicated to the Umayyad is set to open in Byblos.

Lebanese American University (LAU) and Byblos Municipality recently signed an agreement to open a museum dedicated to the Umayyad at the LAU-Louis Cardahi Foundation in Byblos. The museum is part of the larger project of the Umayyad Route project, a tourist initiative spanning the Mediterranean region. The museum launch date will be between December18-21.

$190,000 has been provided for the museum from a total EU grant of €4,153...

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