Drones service launched locally with latest technology. Targeting agriculture, construction, education, utility and infrastructure projects, and logistics sectors

Ideanco, a California-based consultancy and advisory company headed by Lebanese expatriate Maher Ezzedine, will launch locally a drone services unit.

Khattar Abdulkhalek, Partner and Project Manager at Ideanco, said that the company has a strategic partnership with Chinese drone manufacturer DJI. Ideanco's innovation lab will integrate artificial intelligence solutions (AI) to the drones for specialized use by various sectors. It will be the first local company to provide such services.<...

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Industrial cold room equipment factory in Hadath. Production under Iceberg brand

Farjallah Group, an electro-mechanical engineering firm, will open a factory for industrial cold room equipment in Hadath in late 2019.

Under the brand name 'ICEBERG', the factory will manufacture condensing units, cold room doors, control panels, and insulated and dry truck boxes.

The total built-up area of the project is 6,000 square meters spread over five floors.

Farjallah Trading invested $5 million in the project. Required machinery will be imported from Europe.
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$400 million job opportunities project from the World Bank. Project to create 64,000 jobs

The World Bank has approved a new $400 million project to support the expansion of employment opportunities in Lebanon.
The financial package is expected to create 52,000 permanent jobs and up to 12,000 short-term employment opportunities.

'Creating Economic Opportunities in Support of the Lebanon National Jobs Program' initiative will enhance economic opportunities for vulnerable groups, specifically young men and women.

It will provide jobs for Lebanese citizens and temporar...

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Dental medical equipment factory to open in Bazhel. To manufacture for German brands

Fusion Dental System, a recently established company, will open a factory for dental medical equipment in Bazhel, Kesrouan in early 2020.

The owners, Dentist Tony Kamel and his brother Fadi Kamel, will invest $8 million in the factory. It will have a 1,500 square meters (m2) built-up area. "It is the first factory for producing dental medical equipment to open locally," said Fadi Kamel.

Around 25 machines will be imported from Germany and Italy to produce 103 medical dental items....

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$24 million from USAID to scale-up SMEs and startups.

Chemonics, implementing partner of the United States Agency for Development (USAID), has partnered with Berytech and Business Incubation Association in Tripoli (BIAT) to initiate the 'Lebanon Enterprise Development' project (LED). The project will identify, analyze, and propose solutions to enable the business environment for established SMEs and startups.

Total financing of the project is expected to reach $24 million in grants from USAID, which is expected to assist 300-400 companies wi...

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Green gasoil will replace red fuel. No extra charge

The Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) will switch its imports from 'red' gasoil to 'green' gasoil.

Red gasoil is high in sulfur, containing 5,000 particles per million (ppm). Green gasoil, which contains just ten PPM or less, is more eco-friendly, and complies with international standards.

The circulation of green gasoil will begin at the end of August.

"There will be no additional fees because the prices of red and green gasoil are the same," said Cesar Abi Khalil, Energy...

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Moody’s sees growth prospects. Rising interest rates to weigh on debt service

Moody's said it expects economic growth to improve to 2.5 percent in 2018 and three percent in 2019 from about 1.9 percent this year.

"This is based on expectations of greater economic policy coordination, the winding down of the open conflict in Syria and the expected implementation of the CEDRE investor conference commitments," the rating agency said in a research report titled 'Government of Lebanon – B3 Stable, Annual credit analysis'.

Moody's said the pace of implementation of...

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Local design for 4-wheel drive vehicle. Investment awaiting civilian and military demand

David Frem, a local entrepreneur, is finalizing investment plans to build a factory to assemble the first four-wheel drive vehicle designed locally. The vehicle can be used for both military and civil applications.

The initial investment is $2 million, Frem said. Consumer prices start at $200,000, and will be higher for military options.

Frem designed the exterior of the vehicle around an LQ9 engine and Sierra pickup truck chassis, both manufactured by Chevrolet.

The as...

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Winchester cigarettes to be produced by Régie. Total production output at one million containers

Régie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs (Régie) has signed an agreement with Japan Tobacco International (JTI) to manufacture Winchester cigarettes in its plants.

"This agreement will boost the number of cigarettes produced by Régie to one million containers per year, each of which contains 10,000 cigarettes," said Nassif Seklaoui, Director General of Regie.

The monthly production of Winchester cigarettes will reach 5,500 containers per month. Manufacturing wi...

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National Geographic includes Lebanon in best summer list. Ideal culinary and touristic destination

National Geographic has included Lebanon on its list of the best summer trips in 2018, particularly due to its food and beverages.

"Often overlooked as a culinary destination, Lebanon crafts the ideal summer mezze table in an equally ideal temperate climate," said National Geographic.

In 2016, Travel and Leisure ranked Beirut as the best international city for food.

"Selecting the country as one of the best summer trips will boost tourism to a large extent, and will attract ...

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Jacques Saadeh passes away at 81. CMA CGM boss built third largest shipping company in the world

Jacques Saadé, founder of global shipping group Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement Compagnie Generale Maritime (CMA CGM), passed away Sunday at the age of 81.

Jacques Saadé was born in Beirut, in 1937.

After graduating from the London School of Economics in 1957, he took over the family's agricultural manufacturing business.

In 1978, he moved to France, where he set up CMA Merit Corporation. The local representative of the group released a statement pay...

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Land Registry gets World Bank loan. For ICT upgrade and data integration

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved the Administration System Modernization Project, which is intended to modernize the Land Registry and Cadastre system.

The $43 million initiative is financed by a loan through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The loan matures in 13 years with a grace period of six years.

The project has five components: Modernization of the Digital Land Registry and Cadastre System, National Spatial Data Infra...

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Contractors veering toward environmental and renewables. Forging partnerships with specialized companies

Solid waste management challenges and the launch of tenders in the renewable sector constitute new opportunities for contractors, according to the 'Engineering and Contracting Companies' cover story in the June issue of Lebanon Opportunities.

Companies like Mouawad-Edde and MAN Enterprise are participating in three tenders launched by the Ministry of Energy and Water.

These tenders are for the launch of solar and wind farms, as well as hydropower plants across the market.

L...

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$190 million social aid package from EU.

The European Union has allocated a €165 million ($190 million) support package for Lebanon through the EU Regional Trust Fund.

The aid is intended to strengthen the country's public education and social assistance systems.

The EU set aside €100 million ($115 million) in the aid package for public education, to guarantee that all children have access to inclusive and quality education. The EU is working with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), and its regional of...

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Gargour to supply municipalities 97 garbage trucks.

Gargour Asia will provide 97 new trucks to a selected number of municipalities for the transportation of garbage.

The provision of the new trucks is part of a $2 million tender that the Council for Development and Reconstruction awarded to Gargour Asia.

The project was funded by the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), which has made three donations to assist municipalities affected by Syrian refugees. The vehicles project is one of several projects covered by these...

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Hotel and natural park on 130,000 m2 in Ain Saadeh. To include recreation area with restaurant cluster

Forest Resort, a mixed-use touristic project in Ain Saade, has been launched by William Zard Group, a real estate company. Excavation for the project will begin in August. The project is scheduled to be completed within two years.

The project will be built on a 130,000 square meters (m2) land plot. The built-up area is 30,000 m2. "The eco-friendly project will be a destination for families and is located on a 350 m2 altitude," said Chairman William Zard Abou Jaoude. He said that there is ...

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Central Bank to banks: Know your real client. Central Bank’s decision is part of anti-money laundering compliance

The Central Bank (BDL) has issued a circular instructing banks and financial entities to identify the ultimate owners or controllers, technically called 'beneficial owners', of their institutional and individual clients.

They must also open a specific register that lists the names of the ultimate beneficial owners for each of their customers.

The circular comes in compliance with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). FATF is an international inter-governme...

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Moviegoers grew more than 40 percent in seven years. $36 million in yearly box office sales

The number of moviegoers grew by 43 percent since 2010, reaching around four million entry tickets last year, according to data compiled at various theaters.

Foot traffic rose 11 percent last year compared to 2016. Gross Box Office (GBO) receipts reached $36 million last year. The launch of new cinemas at The Spot Shoueifet, ABC Verdun, Cascada Mall Zahle, and The Spot Nabatieh, contributed to this growth, said Isaac Fahed, Sales and Distribution Manager at Grand Cinemas.

The cou...

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Wafer factory opens in Zahle industrial city. Import ban will create local demand

Makhoul Trading, a manufacturer of powdered juices, desserts and baking products, opened a wafer factory in Zahle's industrial zone in early June.

The factory, which produces the wafer brand 'Galeta', is built on a 3,000 square meters (m2) land plot. The total built-up area is 1,200 m2.

"The decision taken by the Cabinet, which bans wafers imported from Turkey, will create a huge demand," said Chairman Paul Makhoul.

Makhoul invested more than $3 million in the project.
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Banks OK’d to trade in financial instruments. CMA to monitor accounts

The Central Bank (BDL) has reauthorized commercial banks and financial institutions to directly carry out transactions involving financial instruments on behalf of their clients, according to two new BDL circulars.

The new circulars overturn a November 2016 BDL decision that prohibited such transactions unless they were done through specialized banks or brokerage firms. That decision was frozen following an objection by the Association of Banks, said Amine Awad, General Manager of BLOM Ba...

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Solidere posts $116 million loss. Projects under development will not be halted

Solidere's audited financial statements for 2017, show a loss of $116 million, a sharp decline from the $75 million in profits it posted in 2016.

Solidere's numbers, released Wednesday, resemble those of 2015, when losses were almost the same.

Total revenues dropped 75 percent to $68 million. This decline is mainly due to the lack of land sales. In 2016, land sales reached $203 million from 11 transactions.

Property rent revenues rose seven percent to $60 million. Revenues...

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Net economic loss due to Syrian crisis: $9.8 billion. InfoPro book wraps up the repercussions on major sectors

The net impact of the Syrian crisis has cost Lebanon's most productive sectors $9.8 billion, according to a detailed study published by InfoPro on Tuesday.

'Economic Impact of the Syrian Crisis on Lebanon' compares the current economic situation with the period prior to the crisis, based on surveys undertaken by InfoPro, as well as more than 100 publications and studies, expert analyses and simulations.

Unemployment levels almost doubled to reach 18 percent, said Jennifer Abumrad, ...

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BLC to sell Cypriot bank to Maurice Sehnaoui. Sehnaoui to exit stake in BLC

A group of investors led by Maurice Sehnaoui is in talks with BLC Bank to buy its stake in the Cyprus-based USB Bank. Sehnaoui will in turn exit his stake in BLC Bank in favor to the Kassar family, which owns the majority of it.

BLC Bank owns 99.25 percent of USB Bank, whose shareholders' equity stood at around $85.5 million at the end of 2016. Sehanoui holds a 23 percent stake in BLC Bank, whose equity totaled $559.8 million at the end of 2017. He owns 18.4 percent through Holding M. Seh...

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New water code allows companies to run utilities. Establishes water police, national water authority

Parliament has ratified a new code that allows the private sector to build and run public water utilities.

Public utilities for potable water, wastewater, and irrigation can now be run through Build-Operate-Transfer or Design-Build-Operate-Transfer contracts that have a maximum period of 30 years.

Law 77, the new Water Code, establishes a 'water registry', an inventory of all water input and output, which will be updated periodically by the Ministry of Energy and Water.

It a...

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Fidus to morph into a specialized or private bank. Equity increased to $25 million

Fidus SAL, a subsidiary of Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL), has received preliminary approval from the Central Bank (BDL) to convert into a specialized bank, according to Jean Hanna, the company's Deputy General Manager.

For this purpose, Fidus increased its capital from $5 million to $20 million, and boosted shareholders' equity from $7.5 million to $25 million.

The new bank, tentatively named Fidus Invest or SGBL Private Bank, is expected t...

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Foreign investment flat at $2.63 billion. Growth rates slow to a halt

Foreign direct investment inflows (FDIs) are estimated to have increased 0.7 percent to $2.63 billion in 2017 compared with the previous year, according to the 'World Investment Report' by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The annual FDI growth was 11 percent in 2016, according to the present report.

The sharp slowdown in FDI inflows comes amid a global and regional downtrend. Lebanon was one of only six countries in the West Asia region that witness...

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OGERO launches fiber optics project. A minimum 50 MB/s speed is targeted

Ministry of Telecommunications (MoT) and OGERO are kicking-off the first phase of the fiber optics project (FTTX). The project includes 'Fiber-to-the-Home' (FTTH) and 'Fiber-to-the-Cabinet' (FTTC), to ensure internet connection speeds of at least 50 Mb/s.

The plan is to finish the FTTX project in a 40-month period, said Imad Kreidieh, Director General of OGERO.

The FTTX project consists of three phases. OGERO distributed the work between the three companies that were awarded the t...

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Berytech Fund invests in Capital Banking Solutions. Company to expand to the Gulf

Berytech Fund II has acquired a stake in software developer Capital Banking Solutions (CBS) for $5 million.

Both parties declined to disclose the new shareholding distribution. Sources close to the deal estimated Berytech's share to be under 40 percent.

Samer Hanna, Chairman of CBS, said that the proceeds will be used for geographical expansion as well as the creation of new products.

"We will beef up our team in order to grow faster," he said. The company plans to enter t...

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Government to subsidize cost of World Cup broadcast. Negotiations underway to broadcast on Tele Liban

Satellite television subscribers will be able to watch the 2018 World Cup football games free of charge, the Ministry of Information announced Tuesday.

These subscribers include households that buy the service from satellite television providers, representing around 70 percent of households in the country, according to Arij Mansour, Executive Manager at Sama, exclusive distributor of beIN SPORTS channels locally. beIN SPORTS is the exclusive broadcaster of the World Cup in the MENA region...

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Restaurant cluster to open in Klayaat. Bringing branded restaurants and pubs to the region

Pro Management Properties, a real estate development company owned by Rami Nassar and Alain Masri, will open a food cluster in Klayaat, in early July.

The project will be built on a 3,000 square meters (m2) plot, with a total built-up area of 1,000 m2.

Nassar and Masri have invested $4 million in the cluster.

"The project will contribute in reviving the Klayaat region as a touristic and entertainment hub," Nassar said, referencing the area's heyday in the 1990s.

The...

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GDP rises 1.7 pct in 2016 Financial services up 18 pct. Central Administration of Statistics releases National Accounts

GDP reached $51.5 billion in 2016, propelled by a real growth rate of 1.7 percent, according to the 'National Accounts' report recently released by the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS).

The World Bank, the Central Bank, and Bank Audi had estimated GDP growth of two percent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had projected a real growth rate of one percent.

The GDP growth in 2016 was an improvement from 2015, when real growth was just 0.2 percent.

GDP was growi...

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New factories double in the past five years. The number of factories opening is double the number of those closing

The Ministry of Industry (MoI) issued 652 industrial permits last year, two percent fewer than in 2016. These include new establishments, expansions, exploitation permits, and renewals.

The MoI issued 193 licenses for the establishment of new factories last year, a 22 percent drop from 2016, but double the number of licenses issued in 2012.

"These numbers indicate that investors' appetite for putting money in the industrial sector is growing," said Dany Gedeon, Director General at...

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Power cuts to increase this summer.

Electricité du Liban (EDL) may reduce electricity production this summer if a budget shortfall isn't resolved, according to its Chairman Kamal Hayek.

The EDL requested LL2,800 million ($1.85 billion) in State subsidies in order to provide 16 hours of power to areas outside Beirut. But Parliament, in the 2018 State budget, allocated just LL2,100 million ($1.4 billion), when the cost of oil stood at $65 per barrel. The cost of oil has since climbed to $75 per barrel, which means powe...

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Finance Bank under investigation. Problems to be solved within months

The Higher Banking Commission, which is the judicial arm of the Central Bank (BDL), has instructed the newly appointed general manager of Finance Bank to investigate suspected wrongdoing at the bank and to prepare a recovery plan.

The Commission appointed Nadim Rahal in April as General Manager of Finance Bank after it discharged the bank's board of directors and its previous Chairman Hassan Farran. The move came after Iraqi authorities took legal action against Farran on bribery allegati...

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Kaslik resort under construction. $85 million project to include, hotel, mall, and yacht marina

A mixed-use resort in Kaslik is being planned by Sam Elias, a Lebanese-Australian developer. Excavation for 'Soul Beach Resort' will start in July. The project is scheduled to be completed within three years.

The project will be built on a 16,382 square meters (m2) land plot, which has been leased from the Maronite Mariamite Order for 37 years, with the possibility to renew for another 37 years. The built-up area is 78,000 m2, with a sea front of 110 meters.

Investment in the pro...

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