Hariri confident financial crisis spared Lebanon |
|
05 February 2009
BEIRUT: Deputy Saad HaririDeputy Saad Hariri
said on Wednesday that all indications show that Lebanon has not been affected by the global financial crisis. Speaking at the opening the Lebanese Omani Businessmen Forum at the Movenpick Hotel, HaririHariri added that the Lebanese banks demonstrated a rare capability to withstand all the violent financial shocks.
"As a matter of fact, Lebanon is currently considered as a financial safe haven," HaririHariri said.
But he warned that Lebanon may be affected in the long run by the crisis because of the country's economic openness to the outside world.
"Our actual economy transcends the boundaries of Lebanon, especially when it comes to the close relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states."
He was alluding to the presence of thousands of Lebanese expatriates in the GCC states.
There is growing concern that many Lebanese working in the oil-rich Gulf states may lose their jobs if the firms curb their operations drastically this year.
"The biggest challenge for us is to seize the opportunity and confront the problems with minimum damage," HaririHariri said.
He said it's wrong to assume that market economy and globalization are failures.
"We should adopt proper economic and financial policies and most importantly introduce regulatory supervisions."
HaririHariri called for more inter-Arab investments and the launch of mutual projects.
Also on Wednesday, Economy and Trade Minister Mohammad Safadi revealed some statistics on Lebanese-Omani trade.
He added that the size of trade between Lebanon and Oman was still very modest.
Lebanon's exports to Oman in 2006 rose to $22 million before failing to $5.9 million in 2007 and $6 million in 2008.
Safadi called for the creation of a joint Lebanese and Omani government committee to strengthen trade and investments in both countries.
Omani ministers and businessmen talked about investment opportunities in Lebanon and stressed that the government would provide all the facilities to any Lebanese and Arab investor. - The Daily Star
© Copyright The Daily Star 2009.
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Comment on this article 
Loading ...-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Stories
Companies
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Telecom | Saudi Arabia | Telecommunications Services |
| Saudi Electricity Company | Saudi Arabia | Electric Utilities |
| Dubai Electricity and Water Authority | UAE | Electric Utilities |
| National Oil Corporation - Libya | Libya | Oil |
| Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company - Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Ministry of Health - Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia | Ministries and Municipalities |
| Roads and Transport Authority - Dubai | UAE | Regulatory and Administrative Bodies |
| Ministry of Health - Kuwait | Kuwait | Ministries and Municipalities |
Projects
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| ADNOC/ConocoPhillips - Sour Gas Fields Development - Shah Field | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| ENEC - Nuclear Power Plant | UAE | Power and Water |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| SATORP - Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Aramco/Dow Chemical - Ras Tanura Integrated Refinery and Petrochemicals Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Abu Dhabi Ports Company - Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (KPIZ) | UAE | Infrastructure |
| IGD - Gasco - Habshan 5 Gas Processing Plant | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Abu Dhabi DOT - Abu Dhabi Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Qatar Foundation - Sidra Medical and Research Center | Qatar | Real Estate |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex - Phase 1 | UAE | Industry |