As evidenced by recent surveys and public polls, Lebanese are disenchanted with their overall tax system and consider their obligation to pay taxes a burden. But they are decrying the many defects of their tax system without even understanding it. According to a national survey conducted in 2012 by the Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan…
Taxes 101
Beyond start-ups
Lebanon has followed other countries in the region and abroad in promoting entrepreneurship to achieve economic growth and to generate future job opportunities. Entrepreneurship is considered a valid tool to help lead the country into a knowledge economy, where the role of information and technological change are the main drivers. In this context, education can…
Offshore petroleum investments made riskier
In light of the recent Lebanon Investment in Infrastructure Conference as well as the highly anticipated CEDRE conference (also known as Paris IV), it is undeniable that attracting private investment is Lebanon’s top priority. This comes shortly after the country signed petroleum contracts with international oil companies (IOCs) for the exploration and production of offshore…
Troubled and troublesome
Every stroll in the Eastern Mediterranean lands means walking in the presence of some historic reference. Transformed into politics and national ideologies, history has long been a tool of identity building. When looking at identity politics, these days may we squirm over the rise of new, presumably white identity politics in the United States or…
Lebanese in Brazil will not vote come May
The Lebanese parliamentary elections on May 6 are bound to make history, as, for the first time ever, Lebanese residing abroad have been granted the right to vote. Their appetite to do so, however, has so far appeared to be rather humble. In total, 82,900 Lebanese abroad have registered to vote, according to the official…
Energy and climate change
Lebanon’s commitment to combating or mitigating climate change culminated in December 2015 when Lebanon became a signatory to the Paris Agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21). Lebanon committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 15 percent by 2030 and up to 30 percent conditional upon the provision of international…
Wind farms in Lebanon
Earlier this spring, Lebanon signed its first-ever power purchase agreement (PPA) for wind energy with three separate consortiums that will build and operate wind farms in Akkar, in the north of the country. The energy ministry’s signing of the agreements represents Lebanon’s first PPA with the private sector in electricity generation as part of efforts…
The art of insurance
Brokers play an important role in highly functional insurance markets, providing clients with advice on risk and policy choices. They often help clients obtain covers, assist them with claims, and act as intermediaries between clients and insurers. But Lebanon’s insurance brokers have faced several difficult years in a row. To gauge the views of licensed…
Taking risks
Adding to the misty picture of insurance industry prospects in Lebanon are uncertainties over the sector’s ability to exploit three major opportunities which are slowly taking shape inside and outside of Lebanon: energy, infrastructure, and reconstruction. The book of doubts on the purported three new miracles includes some question marks if the industry will be…
Valued opinions
After over a decade of dormancy, Lebanon’s Economic and Social Council (ESC) was reactivated last November. The ESC is an advisory body to the government, and its opinons are non-binding. Executive met with the economist Mazen Soueid, one of 71 individuals named to serve on committees of the ESC, to understand how the institution can…
A window of opportunity
Executive met with Christina Lassen, head of the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, to discuss the challenges Lebanon is facing, what to expect from the upcoming CEDRE investment conference and Brussels II refugee aid conference, and the outcomes of last month’s Rome security conference. E It is an interesting time for Lebanon,…
Let the sunshine in
Anyone who has lived or spent time in Lebanon is aware of the chronic gaps in the electric grid, which have resulted in regularly scheduled power cuts of three hours a day in Beirut and as much as 12 hours a day outside the capital. The government has persistently pursued stopgap measures, such as renting…
What’s in the Capital Investment Plan?
Judging a book by its cover may no longer be common lingo in the digital age, but it seems to be exactly what Lebanon is hoping people will do ahead of the CEDRE investment conference scheduled for early April in Paris: Never mind the details; be impressed by the dazzling overall figures and exciting projects.…
A litmus test in Paris
April 6 could be a very good Friday for Lebanon. Not only does it unofficially usher in the fruit season, a symbol of renewal and rebirth, but it is also the day that state officials will pitch a set of large-scale infrastructure projects to the international community and investors at the CEDRE conference in Paris.…
This won’t be easy
This month, Lebanon will send a delegation of state officials to Paris to pitch an infrastructure development program dubbed the Capital Investment Plan (CIP) to the international community and private investors. Alongside the CIP officials will also unveil an economic vision, fiscal discipline measures, and structural and sectoral reforms. Of the four, Executive has only…