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French companies upbeat about Lebanese economic future

19 March 2010

BEIRUT: The huge number of French companies exhibiting at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure center (BIEL), for the French week in Lebanon 2010, is nothing less than a great indicator of the country’s ability to once again become the commercial hub of the Middle East.

“If it weren’t for the political clashes that have occurred in Lebanon for the past few years, I think that Dubai wouldn’t have existed and Beirut would have been the commercial hub of the Middle East. If stability prevails in the country for the coming few years, Beirut will become once again the Middle East economic capital” the commercial director of Total, the leading multinational energy company, said Wednesday.

“We have been operating in Lebanon since 1951 and many of our stations have been destructed during the successive wars that hit Lebanon. But this has never had a negative impact on our decision to stay in Lebanon,” Guillaume Mouret said.

Mouret explained that eight out of the 160 service stations that are being operated by Total in Lebanon have been destroyed in the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon, but insisted that Total never thought of ending its operations in Lebanon.

He also praised Lebanon’s economic dynamism and said that the aim of Total is to reinforce its existence in the Lebanese market in addition to being a reference in implementing the most severe norms in security and environment.

“We are looking forward to taking advantage of each opportunity and further expand our network, not to forget that we invest around $5 million to $6 million each year to maintain our existence in the Lebanese market,” he said.

The event that was organized by the Lebanese Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in collaboration with the chamber of commerce and industry in Paris, aims at connecting French and Lebanese enterprises in order to create business partnerships between the two countries. It also intends to improve the import-export figures of both countries.

France ranked second on the list of Lebanon’s most important sources of imports in 2009, which is equivalent to a rate of 9.7 percent of the total $16.2 billion worth of Lebanese imports, as reported by the economic research center of the Lebanese chamber of commerce, industry and agriculture.

According to the same report, France is the seventh country to which Lebanon mostly exports its products. It added that the Lebanese exports to France reached $107.2 million in 2009 compared to only $84.1 million in 2008.

France traditionally enjoys favorable relations with Lebanon. French involvement in Lebanon is characterized as much by strong economic and cultural cooperation as by political support. Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who inaugurated the exhibition in the presence of the Ambassador of France to Lebanon Denis Pietton, has on several occasions called for strengthening cultural, political and economic relations between the two countries.

The strong ties between France and Lebanon played a great role in attracting new potential investors who are aiming at entering the Lebanese market for the first time through different ways. “It is true that Dubai is becoming the commercial hub of the Middle East but Lebanon is a key center in the jewelry market,” said Didier Sibani.

Sibani is the owner and manager of Maison Sibani Perles which is one of the biggest dealers in the pearl industry in Polynesia. French Polynesia is a French overseas collectivity in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group.

“We prefer to work with Lebanese people because there are very old relations between the France and Lebanon in addition to the very solid partnerships between the embassies and the relations of trust between the two countries,” he said. “This facilitates for us the procedures of finding new trustable partners in Lebanon and the embassy offers us all the guarantees.”

Sibani explained that he is interested in entering the Lebanese market by finding partners who will present his jewelry but not through opening new branches in Lebanon as he already has 69 stores distributed all over the world.

“I travel the world eight times yearly which is enough for me. However, making a partnership with a Lebanese jewelry expert is much better since it opens new horizons, and we can rely on them in marketing and public relations,” he said.

The free and open Lebanese society has also played a great role in attracting investors’ attention to the potential growth that they can achieve in the Lebanese market. This is why Bertrand Trepo-Leriguier, president of Trepo Leriguier champagne, was participating in the exhibition. “Lots of people told us that Beirut is very important if we want to grow our wine business in the Middle East. You can freely speak about wine and you have stores selling wine in the street,” said Leriguier. “It is not a taboo.”

Leriguier is a wine grower who opened his business in 2007. He is looking for a Lebanese partner capable of promoting his products in Lebanon. “We are trying to find an agent to help us sell our products,” he said.

He added that the market in Lebanon is better than others in the Middle East because of its openness to alcohol. “You can drink everywhere and people here party a lot,” he said. “I need an agent to tell me how to enter the market successfully. Maybe I have to advertise in television and newspapers.”

Leriguier explained that it is not possible to place alcohol ads for wine on French television channels because there is a law preventing it. “They consider that you are encouraging the youths to drink too much.”

He added that even in newspapers you can only place an ad containing a picture of a wine bottles but not people drinking. “The Lebanese media is more open,” he said.

© Copyright The Daily Star 2010.