Words from the vault

“Everything else being equal, I don’t foresee better economic conditions than the ones prevailing in Lebanon. If we can sustain the current levels it’s a positive thing. We need to see transformational changes in the region.” Freddie Baz, Chief Financial Officer of Bank Audi “We are in Syria for the long term. We see in the medium-to-long term a lot of potential. We expect like everyone else that events will still be very bad and we have no expectations for things to improve in the short term. It will take several years probably before things improve.” Saad Azhari, Chairman and General Manager of Blom Bank “Regarding the Financial Markets Authority, of course we need better rules and regulation to avoid further stock manipulation but at the end of the day, we need more companies to list on the exchange.” Jean Riachi, Chief Executive and Chairman of FFA Private Bank “I