With the new year around the corner, we would like to highlight the

  best that 2011 had to offer Lebanon:

• Based on a survey conducted by Bader & World Economic forum, Lebanon was able to  move 3 spots up to 89^th in the Global Competitiveness Rankings . 
• Lebanon was an exception to the negative trend announced by UNCTAD in its 2011 "World Investment Report", as it maintained its fourth place in terms of FDI inflows to the MENA region with 5 billion USD, following Saudi Arabia (28 billion USD), Egypt (6 billion USD) and Qatar (5.5 billion USD).
• 50 Million dollar fund to support Lebanon's SMEs was created and funded by Abraaj Capital in cooperation with the European Investment Bank and CISCO. 
• The year proved successful for several companies from all economic sectors with planned expansions and investments facilitated by the help of IDAL:
  • Tourism; Vendome Hotel Expansion (Tourism) - A 31.8 million dollar investment.
  • Industry; Matelec (Industry/Transformers) - A 21.1 million dollar investment.
  • Agro-industry; Cedars Beverages & Tayyebat- Each a 3 million dollar investment.
  • Technology ; Arwan Pharmaceuticals & Cynoprod- A 17 million dollar & 670,000 dollar investment respectively.
  • Telecommunication; Waves- A 12 million dollar investment.

We look forward to the economic stability  of the region and the increase of FDI to Lebanon. IDAL will attend/organize several events next year,  as well as launch various campaigns to promote Lebanon as a viable investment destination. 

In regards to investment promotion, we are looking forward to the ratification of the amendments to Investment Law No.360 implementing decrees that are designed to be more compatible with today's global challenges, and which should contribute to the increase in investments to higher value-add sectors. In parallel to the Investment Law amendments, we are also aiming at increasing the range of services provided to our investors to ease their investment experience in Lebanon.  Also in the pipeline are  a series of awareness workshops throughout Lebanon  as well as  Investment/Trade Missions planned throughout the year in Arab and Diaspora countries.

In regards to export promotion, and just to name a few, look for Lebanese exports and produce at the following trade exhibitions:

- February: Fruit Logistica Exhibition in Berlin, Germany and the Gulf Food in Dubai, UAE

- September: Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong, China

- October: MACFRUIT in Casena, Italy

- November: SIAL Middle East in Abu Dhabi, UAE

We are constantly on the lookout for training opportunities for our staff in order to enhance upon their competencies and skills to better serve investors.

Recently four of our staff members took part in the capacity building programs organised by The Investment Promotion Technical Assistance Program( ITAP) of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, in association with the UNCTAD secretariat and UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion office in Bahrain and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.

The program took place in Morocco and Malaysia and tackled the topics of" Foreign Direct Investment & Entrepreneurship Development" and "FDI Promotion and Economic Development Strategies" respectively.

The program focused on best practice for enterprise creation and enterprise growth and thus presenting the means of developing entrepreneurs from the informal to the formal sector and attain sustainable growth rates. It also provided investment promotion officials of IDB countries a platform to gain a comprehensive understanding of foreign direct investment promotion and the importance of entrepreneurship development through knowledge sharing between the various Investment Promotion Agencies participating.