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On the 29th of January, 2016, the Lebanese-Cypriot Business Council was launched at the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (CCIA) of Beirut and Mount Lebanon. A press conference was held for the occasion by President of the Council, Georges Chehwane, under the umbrella of President of the Chamber, Mohamed Choucair. The event was attended by the business consultant at the Embassy of Cyprus, Elia Elpidoforos who represented the Cypriot Ambassador to Lebanon, Christina Rafti, in addition to Vice President of the Chamber, Mohamed Lamaa and several Lebanese economic entities and businessmen interested in building an economic collaboration with Cyprus.
The council consists of: President Georges Chehwane, Vice President Ziad Zeidan, General Secretary Samer Ali Hassan, Tresaurer Georges Moufarrej, Member of the Board Karim Al Arab, Member of the Board Antoine Habib, and members: Ola El Masri Jumblatt, Joe Ibrahim, Semaan bou Fadel, Badr Zeidan, Daoud Issa, Kassem Hammoud, Imad El Khatib, Samir Saliba, Jamil Merhej, and Mohamed Itani.
Elpidoforos expressed hope in "this council's contribution to the development of economic cooperation between the two countries." He stressed the "readiness of the embassy to offer the support needed to reach set goals."
In his speech, Chehwane said, "We are gathered here today, at the Chamber of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, with Lebanese investors and businessmen in Cyprus to launch the Lebanese-Cypriot Business Council. And we would like to seize the opportunity to affirm our confidence in our dear friend, President of the Lebanese Chamber of Commerce, Mohamed Choucair, who is sponsoring this event. We believe the chamber is totally capable of leading the way to the success of this council. We would also like to mention that this step complements the already existing Cypriot-Lebanese Business Council chaired by MP Antonis Hadjiroussos."
"We might be late," added Chehwane, "But better late than never. And by this I mean that we should have launched the Lebanese-Cypriot Business Council a very long time ago, given that the two countries have a history of cooperation and common interests as well as a promising future that is worth setting regulatory frameworks for."
"I do not have to talk about the past to highlight the relationship between Lebanon and Cyprus and learn lessons from our history together," he said. "It is enough to remember how Cyprus welcomed thousands of Lebanese refugees in July 2006 after the Israeli attacks on the Beirut airport totally crippled its operations. It goes without saying that previous wars that broke out in the seventies and the fifties drove thousands of Lebanese people to move their businesses and families to Cyprus, particularly after 1975. Indeed, we rely on our geographical advantages in times of crises, but we tend to neglect them in times of peace."
Chehwane declared that the "aim of the Lebanese-Cypriot Business Council is to contribute to the enhancement of business relationships between the two countries to live up (measure up/go in line with/scale them up to the level of) to the common history that joins them."
"We have always had huge banking and tourism investments in Cyprus, in addition to others," noted Chehwane. "But trade between the two countries has been weak. It even dropped to 30 million USD in 2015, while there are more than 11 Lebanese banks in Cyprus with over 5 billion USD in deposits. Moreover, there are several offshore companies that were established by Lebanese entrepreneurs in Cyprus to facilitate their businesses."
"It is worth noting that Cyprus offers remarkable investment incentives, particularly in terms of naturalization and the acquisition of a European nationality. Cyprus provides an investment package and a permanent residency in return of purchasing a property for more than 300 thousand Euros," pointed out Chehwane. "Many Lebanese citizens flooded to Cyprus in recent years to purchase a property, benefitting from the hot deals that followed the financial crisis, as well as the island's proximity from Lebanon and its ideal location making it the perfect touristic destination."
"We have a lot to do," insisted Chehwane. "The Mediterranean is witnessing strategic changes today as Russia rises as a rival to the USA and the West in general. Moreover, the Mediterranean holds gas and oil wells to be soon explored. Lebanon and Cyprus own a big part of these wells, and Cyprus is already working on signing contracts with neighboring countries, while Lebanon has not taken any strategic steps in this regard yet, knowing that this opportunity might contribute to the reduction of public debt and the growth of the economy." Chehwane raised the question: "Where do we stand amid all these changes? What role do we play in encouraging governments to adopt the best policies for the Cypriot and Lebanese people? What are the horizons of cooperation between us on the level of industrial and oil projects, and subsequently, touristic and commercial projects?"
"We should start as soon as possible in devising a roadmap for the economic cooperation between us," emphasized Chehwane. "This is exactly what we will work on with competent authorities and the public sector in both countries."
Chehwane also said, "Knowing the importance of the development of economic relationships and the volume of work required, the Lebanese-Cypriot Council will strive to:
1- Introduce businessmen and investors from both countries to the economic and production potentials as well as available opportunities in the other country.
2- Promote trade partnership between Lebanon and Cyprus and work on building good ties on the economic, industrial, and trade levels between the two countries.
3- Encourage the exchange of knowledge and experiences and facilitate communications between organizations, companies, associations, and institutions, as well as the economic and financial departments in both countries.
4- Provide businessmen in both countries with information on employment and investment opportunities as well as the financial instruments, legal framework, and regulations governing trade and investment.
5- Set the priorities for economic policies and propose recommendations that aim to improve the economic partnership between Lebanon and Cyprus, and submit them to the competent authorities.
6- Overcome obstacles that stand in the way of the exchange of investments, goods, and services; in addition to encouraging the signing of bilateral cooperation agreements that serve the interests of both countries, following up on their implementation, and offering the necessary proposals and recommendations to improve existing conventions and protocols."
Chehwane noted that "Cyprus opens the door to the European Union, while Lebanon opens the door to the Arab world," pointing out that "in less than a month - specifically on the 19th of February - Cyprus will be hosting an important conference in Limassol which we look forward to participating in. The invitation is open to all Lebanese investors in Cyprus to join the Lebanese-Cypriot Business Council. United, we can achieve more, particularly at the level of strengthening the balanced economic partnership between Cyprus and Lebanon."
© Press Release 2016
