Instead of finishing his degree in IT engineering at Damascus University, 25-year-old Ayham* fled Syria with his family to Lebanon in 2012. At first, he worked on a banana plantation, then as a graphic designer. With the help of a scholarship that covered half his tuition, he finally finished a degree in computer science at…
Innovation economy needs investment
Lebanon being Lebanon, there are no statistics. But by the accounts of stakeholders throughout the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, one big gap is not being filled: strong financial support from the state for research and development (R&D). Many governments make R&D investments, and the Lebanese government does fund the National Center for Scientific Research—which has four…
Still starting up
Over the past four or five years, it has been conceived, announced, born, developed, mapped, hyped, challenged, expanded, reassessed, praised, mapped again, hyped to excess, and questioned. But all the talk makes it hard to assess the true state of Lebanon’s tech entrepreneurship ecosystem in 2017. Finance—in form of the funds mobilized under Circular 331,…
McLaren lands in beirut
September saw the launch of the supercar brand McLaren in the local market with a new showroom in Downtown’s 3 Beirut complex, with its vehicles on sale for the first time in the country. Executive sat down with Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Automotive Mike Flewitt to talk about the relatively young brand and their…
The other side
Mar Mikhael usually evokes images of a buzzing nightlife and hip restaurants; what few of the neighborhood’s visitors realize, however, is that there is more to Mar Mikhael than Armenia Street. Even fewer are aware that Mar Mikhael is not bordered by Charles Helou Avenue, but that it in fact splits it in two. Located…
Going nowhere
The latest move to encourage the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in Arab markets came in Dubai. Last month, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority announced incentives for EVs that include exemption from road tolls and registration fees at the Road and Transport Authority, and free charging and parking at specially assigned locations. The emirate…
Drive … At your own risk
Our roads are unsafe. A large number of the cars on our roads are inefficient, polluting, and even dangerous to drive. Many go uninspected, as people thumb their noses at the law, and many more are cheap cars that were damaged and repaired badly, bought secondhand on the gray market. On top of everything else,…
Talking about wealth
Wealth is a contentious issue when seen through the lens of social improvement. Viewed from the position of social equality, it is a recipe for dissatisfaction and, sometimes, disaster. How does a private banker reconcile obligations to clients with social responsibility and ambitions for national improvement? Executive sat down with Jean Riachi, chairman of FFA…
All the makings of
It is common to associate wealth management with private banks, family offices, brokers, asset managers, and other financial intermediaries. But the structuring and transmission of wealth also touches upon many that are outside of the financial trade. Interactions between essential sectors in an economy and smaller surrounding activities are normal. Some globally significant industries, such…
Private returns
International reports suggest that the Middle East is currently the world’s second fastest growing region in private wealth, trailing only Asia. According to a Global Wealth 2017 report published in June by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), an international management consulting firm, the private wealth segment picked up momentum globally in 2016, but with visible regional…