IDAL exempts IT firms from NSSF fees. Up to 15 employees per company eligible

Telecom and IT companies that qualify for incentives from the Investment and Development Authority in Lebanon (IDAL), can become exempt from paying employee subscription fees to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

IDAL will pay the NSSF subscription fees for up to 15 employees per company.

IDAL has prepared the implementation decree and referred it to the Cabinet. The law will come into effect once it is signed.

IT and telecom companies that are expanding their busin...

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Public wages soar 18 percent to $6.4 billion.

The State's total personnel cost including social benefits, retirement and end of service indemnities, surged by 18 percent in 2018 to $6.4 billion, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The cost grew by a compound annual growth rate of 8.4 percent over the period 2011-2018.

The $1 billion jump in costs seen in 2018 was mainly driven by the new salary scale granted to public sector employees in August 2017 and which took full effect in 2018. The salary scale only had a partia...

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Jounieh Highway expansion starting. The project will finish in 30 months

The expansion of Jounieh Highway will start before the end of the year, according to Ramzi Salman, CEO of Société D'Entreprises Abdul Rahman Hourie, the company which won the tender along with Consolidated Engineering and Trading (CET).

The highway will be expanded to new width of 50 meters. It will include three lanes plus one safety lane in each direction. It will cover 10.5 km of the highway from Nahr El Kalb to Tabarja.

The cost of the project is EUR48 million (...

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Restaurateurs’ eyes are on Mina El Hosn. Ten restaurants opened recently and more to come

Mina El Hosn has seen the opening of more than ten premium dining restaurants in the last three years, including both Lebanese and European cuisines, according to 'The party has moved to downtown', a cover story published in the August issue of Lebanon Opportunities.

Boubess Group, a company behind several F&B concepts, has paved the way for a number of chains to tap into the area. It has opened two outlets under the brands Cucina and Métropole in Mina El Hosn.

Other restau...

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Industrial raw materials exempted from Customs hike. Council of Ministers needs to approve list of exempted products

The Higher Council of Customs, following the Ministry of Finance's circular, issued a decision that exempts industrial and agricultural raw materials from the three percent custom duty, which was recently imposed in 2019 budget.

According to this decision, industrialists who can provide an industrial license issued by the Ministry of Industry are exempted from paying the newly introduced custom fees.

The three percent customs duty was recently approved in the 2019 budget, on impor...

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