With the aim of "promoting innovative investments in the Agro-food industry", The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Saida and South of Lebanon (CCIAS) and the South Business Innovation Center (SouthBIC) are organising a conference on Wednesday September 18, 2013. 

The conference will be held at the Auditorium of the CCIAS in Saida and will bring together Agro-industrialists and key actors of this value chain from across the country to discuss important issues related to the sector trends and development in Lebanon and the innovation in the Agro-Industry. 

Conference speakers include representatives from concerned institutions such as IDAL, BDL, Qualeb, Kafalat in addition to other experts from international organizations. These speakers and other breakout session presenters will be leading discussions related to the investments and innovations in the agro-industry businesses.

On the margins of the conference an exhibition will be inaugurated at the BEC (Business Exhibitions Center in Saida) under the patronage of the European Union Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst. The exhibition will be held from 18-21 September. 

It will be a pleasure if you can attend and drop by our booth to find out how we can support you in your exports or your investments.

Please check the program for more information.

We have invited companies engaged in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) activities along with representatives from the Ministry of Telecommunications, and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for a round-table discussion aimed at looking into ways to support the industry in Lebanon, including the outsourcing of shared services, call center activities and IT services. The meeting covered IDAL's participation at the International Outsourcing Forum (IOF) which is taking place this year in Reims, France on October the 2^nd   and defined a roadmap for promoting the business process outsourcing industry in Lebanon.  

Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said the country will introduce measures to encourage startup companies in a bid to spur economic growth amid political instability.

Under the changes, to be announced this month, banks will be allowed to invest as much as 3% of their own funds in startup companies. The central bank will provide banks with interest-free credit lines for the projects. This will not be a debt investment but a capital investment with a system in place that will cover the risks of start-ups investments to up to 75%.

The stimulus package will be the second the central bank has introduced this year. The central bank in January provided USD 1.35 billion to banks at 1% interest rate to boost lending for new businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, housing and the renewable energy industry.

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In this issue you will find information on the latest released FDI figures for 2012 by both the UNCTAD and the AIEGC along with our latest investor traffic report. Featured in this newsletter is also our latest publications’ release, including the 2012 Annual Report.

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