Feature

Parking against the machine

by Nabila Rahhal
written by Nabila Rahhal

How many times have you come back to your parked car to find a red surcharge ticket welcoming your overdue return? Hopefully you paid the LL10,000 ($6.6) charge within the 10-day time limit, lest it increase incrementally to a $26 fine and then $66, which you will inevitably have to pay when your car goes through the annual Motor Vehicle Inspection, or “Mecanique” as it is known. Behind those parking meters is a private company working alongside the public sector and there are substantial funds involved, and perhaps this is the reason behind their efficiency.

The beige parking ticket you get from the Ministry of Interior for parking in an illegal spot is a different story. If you forget about this ticket, the ambiguous method of collection will not soon hold you to account. And, human nature being what it is, we tend to abide by the rules when we know there is no escaping the consequences, and break them when we know we can get away with it.

Solving the parking problem

According to Rachid Ashkar, council member of the Municipality of Beirut, the decision to install parking meters as one of the solutions to the parking problem in the city was taken by the Municipality of Beirut, in collaboration with the World Bank, which loaned the funds for the project, back in 2000. In 2002, the Council for Development and Research (CDR) took on the role of consultant for the municipality and began the bidding process for an operator for the parking meters. Chafik Sinno’s Duncan-Nead won the bid for Greater Beirut and in 2004, he signed the agreement with the CDR and the Traffic Management Office (an autonomous entity under the Ministry of Interior, currently headed by Farjallah Srour). Finally, in 2009, the first parking meters were installed in Beirut.

“Four years into their installation, and with 643 parking meters in operation in Greater Beirut for 4,500 designated parking spots, phase one is complete,” says Ashkar. “We are now entering phase two, which includes installing 125 new meters, still in commercial areas and including the Corniche.”

According to Ashkar, the Corniche, due to its public appeal, will follow a different formula that will include having free parking on the weekends. Phase two will also include the introduction of different payment options through credit cards and through Short Message Services (SMS).

Pay and park all day

To ensure availability of space, the maximum parking time is set at two hours, but for those who park all day to go to work or university, there is the option of the $6.6 surcharge. “The $6.6 surcharge is not a penalty, or a punishment, it is an option to park all day against a certain fee,” says Ashkar. “This surcharge ticket can be used in different parking spots during the same day without paying a fee again. This service spares you from the valet and from the many parking charges you encounter on a typical day. To obtain this surcharge ticket, simply leave your car without paying the charge.” He adds that phase two of their project will include a media campaign promoting this surcharge ticket as people are unaware that it is not a fine. Part of this campaign, according to Ashkar, is to change the surcharge ticket’s color from the negative red to a neutral blue, and to add an explanatory sentence outlining that one can park all day anywhere using this ticket.

Fines and penalties come into play when the surcharge fees are not paid in the assigned time period. “Since everything is computerized, it is very easy to keep track of each and every misdemeanor. All outstanding charges are sent to the Mecanique Department and one pays them along with the car inspection fees,” says Ashkar. As soon as a surcharge ticket is issued and the controller takes the picture using his hand-held computer, an automatic notification is sent to the Traffic Management Office’s system and then the ticket’s charge is automatically increased if not paid in time and is finally sent to the Mecanique.

Who’s collecting?

With an average of 116 coupons sold per designated parking space per month, and with 4,500 surcharge tickets issued per month per machine in Hamra alone, it is no surprise that the total revenue from the parking meters in Greater Beirut is $60,000 per month. The obvious question which comes to mind is: where does all that money go?

“The parking meter charges are collected by Duncan-Nead and given to the Traffic Management Office, which is the operator of traffic lights and parking meters in Lebanon,” says Ashkar. “The office uses the money generated from parking meters installed in Greater Beirut for the maintenance of those machines, and also for the maintenance of traffic lights which don’t bring any revenues of their own, but use those of the parking meters.”

“After the maintenance is done and needed spare parts are bought by the Traffic Management [Department], the rest of the money goes to the treasury of the respective municipalities, which should use it to increase the capacity of the parking meter system in their area,” adds Ashkar. He is quick to point out that Duncan-Nead is merely the manager of the parking meters in Greater Beirut, and has a contract upon which it receives a monthly income from the Traffic Management Office in return for its services regardless of the meters’ output. “This fee is based upon the number machines it is operating and the number of employees it has on them and does not come out of the meters’ revenues,” says Ashkar.

Automation without wasta

Ashkar believes that the secret behind the success of this system lies in it being automated. “It has been proven that once there is no personal access to cancel or interfere in any operations, machines don’t have wasta (personal favors),” he says, and wonders why the Ministry of Interior does not equip police officers with a computerized system for the illegal parking spots. He acknowledges that traffic police officers have 10 kilometers under their supervision while the parking meter controller has only 400 meters, and so it is very difficult for the police officer to maintain control.

The antiquated system

Colonel Joseph Moussallam, head of the Media and Communications Department at the Ministry of Interior, agrees that the ministry is understaffed. He says ministry employees issue 250,000 beige tickets annually for illegal parking, and a high percentage of them are unpaid. “Just sorting the tickets out at the ministry takes time since the process is a manual one,” says Moussallam. “The purpose of the ‘no-parking’ spots is to reduce traffic jams, and in parking illegally one is effectively closing down a lane meant for drivers.”

Once a parking fine is issued, one has a period of 10 days to pay it, though it stays in the Ministry of Interior’s Traffic Management Office for a month before it is moved to the judiciary court.

“The judiciary court receives thousands of tickets per month, and because it also has no computerized system, it takes months and even years before a court decision is issued, and by that time the verdict could be for the ticket to double or triple in monetary amount,” he says.

Moussallam believes that in order for fines to be effective, they must be implemented promptly, otherwise people forget about them. As examples, he cites changes of address, and sometimes of country of residence, as reasons why people don’t hear about their parking tickets for years after they receive them.

“Judges have up to four years to issue a verdict before the ticket becomes absolute, but a lot can happen in the citizen’s life during that time,” says Moussallam.

Some people recount receiving tickets for cars they had already sold or having to pay exuberant amounts for tickets they don’t recall receiving. Others boast about years of not paying parking tickets and never hearing about them again.  The longer one waits to pay the beige tickets, the higher the fine usually gets and it seems the main beneficiary from the increased fines is the judiciary court.

“If a ticket is paid on time, 20 percent of the amount goes to the security forces, 20 percent to the municipalities’ treasury and 60 percent to the Ministry of Finance. However, if payment is late and it goes to the judiciary court, then 55 percent of the charges, including the late penalty, go to the judges’ treasury and the remaining 45 percent is distributed among the aforementioned factions,” says Moussallam.

Yet he is optimistic about the future, mainly because of the new traffic laws which are now in the process of being decreed. “The new laws will be modernized, especially the ones involving the radars for the speeding tickets,” says Moussallam. “We will also be sterner with higher fines, and increasing the scale on penalties for not paying on time. For example, the charge for illegal parking is going to increase to $33.” The system will remain un-automated however, as the budget cannot accommodate the expense.

Man vs Machine

In this battle of man against machine, it is clear that the machine is the winner. The Ministry of Interior and the judiciary court need to have an automated system for their parking tickets, similar to the parking meters’ system, or risk being drowned in paper work — that is, if they are still able to find a spot to park their car and make it to the office.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Comment

Aleppo out of work

by Jihad Yazigi
written by Jihad Yazigi

It took almost a full year before Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city by population, became an active part of the popular uprising that began engulfing the country in March 2011; but when it did, events very quickly took a violent turn. This summer has seen thousands killed in armed clashes and bombings, more than 200,000 inhabitants are estimated to have fled the city and several districts are being levelled under daily bombardment. ‘Normal life’ is at an almost total standstill throughout the metropolis.

Aleppo is also Syria’s manufacturing hub, and according to the head of the Aleppo Chamber of Industry, Fares Shihabi, by mid-August all the plants located in the industrial area of Sheikh Najjar, a large complex located outside the city’s boundaries, had stopped production because of the rising insecurity. Factories could not be protected and employees feared going to their workplace, while the supply of inputs and the distribution of finished products became almost impossible — that equals more than 600 factories and 40,000 workers in the industrial city that are estimated to be out of work. Should the violence last it is likely that shortages of all kinds of products will occur across the country. Already, medical supplies are threatened and the World Health Organization has warned of drugs shortages — with some 20 companies producing a wide range of medicines, Aleppo is a major center for pharmaceutical production in Syria.

Until the recent rise in violence, Aleppo had managed to escape some of the worst economic consequences of the uprising. Its manufacturers, in particular, benefitted from a number of favorable circumstances. The suspension of the free trade area with Turkey, which was decided after Syria’s northern neighbor imposed sanctions last December, and the increase in customs tariffs decided by the government earlier this year, helped reduce competition in the local market. Likewise, depreciation of the Syrian pound, which has lost some 50 percent of its value compared to the United States dollar in the last year and a half, temporarily spurred increased exports to neighboring Iraq.

Though it has fallen well behind Damascus in terms of overall wealth, Aleppo had long been Syria’s economic capital. Its gradual decline began in the early 1920s when the demarcation of the country’s borders cut its links with its Turkish hinterland, followed by the nationalizations of the late 1950s and early 1960s that stripped the Syrian bourgeoisie, then mainly based in Aleppo, of its land and other assets.

However, it was only in the early 1970s that the balance tipped clearly in favor of Damascus with the increasing centralization of the Syrian state and the growing state capitalism imposed by then President Hafez al-Assad. From then on, the closer investors were to the center of power in Damascus, the luckier they were in winning large government contracts, which represented a large source of revenues and profits for both them and the middlemen/bureaucrats that helped them conclude the deals.

It is therefore no surprise that in the late 1970s, when protests demanding more political freedoms and democratic change began across the country, Aleppo rose — only to see its protest movement and that of neighboring Hama ferociously crushed by the government — while Damascus watched. Only when two decades later Bashar al-Assad reached power and began a policy of economic and trade liberalization, did the city regain some of its lost wealth. The improvement of ties with neighboring Turkey, in particular, helped boost trade, tourism and investment. After decades of marginalization, Aleppo saw its businesses thrive again and sought stability, calm and order. This was not, however, to last, and the city, as most other parts of the country, is now engulfed in an uprising that is unlikely to end anytime soon.

The profound economic, social and political changes likely to emerge from the revolution will force a redefinition of the country’s economic model and the role of the state, of the links between the center and the periphery and of the balance between trade and production. Whether Aleppo will lose again from these changes, as it has with most other dramatic turns of the last century, or whether it will adapt successfully to the situation as it evolves, remains to be seen.

 

JIHAD YAZIGI is editor-in-chief of The Syria Report

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Finance

Q&A – Christos Papadopoulos

by Maya Sioufi
written by Maya Sioufi

Continuing with their investigations of banks involved with Iran, United States authorities went after Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) last month, accusing the British bank of helping Iranian banks and corporates hide around 60,000 transactions worth at least $250 billion between 2001 and 2010. To settle these accusations and avoid seeing its New York license revoked, SCB agreed to pay a $340 million penalty. Prior to this scandal, with Asia as its core market, SCB had recorded its 10th straight year of record profits, standing at $3.95 billion as of the end of June 2012, up 9 percent year-on-year. The bank also announced plans to add as many as 1,500 jobs in the second half of the year. To shed light on the bank’s performance in the Middle East and North Africa region, Executive sat with Christos Papadopoulos, SCB’s head of MENA and Pakistan.

E  Standard Chartered has agreed to pay $340 million to settle the American accusations of working with Iran. Is this the price to pay to resolve a public relations headache and avoid seeing the New York license revoked?

We are continuing to have discussions with a number of other regulators in the US and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on when the discussions will be completed. We have an agreement to settle with the New York regulator. 

E  With respect to clients from the MENA region, have some of your clients stopped doing business with Standard Chartered? How has this issue affected your business?

Our clients in the MENA region have been very supportive and it is business as usual.  We remain open for business. Given the sensitivity of the issue, I cannot comment further.

E  Have we seen the worst in Europe yet?

I definitely think it is not over. I believe Greece will go out of [the euro] with a possibility that this will happen by the year’s end. When that happens, we will go through a significantly stressed situation, a bit like when Lehman Brothers went under. The hope is that by then the European Union would have the firepower to contain the contagion from Greece. I don’t expect more bailouts for Spain, Cyprus, etcetera, beyond what we have already had.

E  How has the turmoil in the MENA region affected demand for banking services?

The turmoil has affected the appetite for credit, but we have seen counterbalance in the significant stimulus provided by the governments such as in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. As banking services are correlated to economic activity, we went through a phase of subdued activity and we are still in that phase as there is no clarity. In the medium term, I am very optimistic; some classes of assets appear to be gaining more momentum, like Islamic banking, and I expect [this momentum] to accelerate in the medium term in markets such as Egypt.

E  Why Egypt?

We couldn’t do Islamic banking in Egypt before. Now with the Muslim Brotherhood in power, we expect a regulatory framework that allows for Islamic banking and we expect the population would want to buy [Islamic banking products]. We are increasingly developing solutions to offer the whole stream of products, both conventional and Islamic.

E  Where do you see the highest opportunity for growth for the banking sector in the region?

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq are the markets of tomorrow as they are enjoying a lot of economic activity. But I also see a strong opportunity in Lebanon where we want to focus on non-resident clients. Lebanon has a massive diaspora in markets like Africa and the Gulf and this becomes a much bigger proposition.

E  Which of the following will see the most significant growth in the coming years: retail banking, private banking or investment banking?

The retail banking business will reflect the demographics and in this region, as the youth come into employment, there will be an appetite for consumer products and therefore consumer banking — so we see a big opportunity in this space. We also see a big opportunity in private banking because there are big wallets in the Middle East. As for investment banking, the need will always be there but in the medium term, I expect consumer and private banking to gain more momentum.

E  With increased scrutiny on Swiss private banks, do you sense that big wallets in the Middle East will increasingly look for bankers in the region as opposed to developed economies?

The coverage was always done both in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and in the [MENA] region with bankers flying in and out. The main issue is where the assets are booked: Switzerland vs. Singapore vs. Dubai. As the OECD region becomes hostile to some of the clients, they are looking for solutions in different locations. In my view, it is increasingly in Dubai and Singapore, which is why we are seeing many private banks moving and rebalancing their resources into the Middle East. Bankers are booking their clients’ assets in the Middle East. A private bank client books his assets where he feels comfortable.

E  Once the dust settles, do you expect other banks to come back to the region?

It is a mixed picture. On one hand, European banks are pulling out from the region. They are reducing their assets not just in the Middle East and Asia but also in the US. On the other hand, American and Japanese banks are looking for growth opportunities. We have seen Japanese banks as big buyers of European banks’ Middle Eastern assets. It shows appetite [for assets in the region].

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Finance

Executive Insight – A fund for the future

by Ibrahim Muhanna
written by Ibrahim Muhanna

“Pending the institution of an old-age insurance scheme, an end-of-service indemnity (EOSI) Fund shall be set up.” So begins article 49 of the 1963 Social Security Law. Run by Lebanon’s National Social Security Fund (NSSF), the public provider of insurance for the private sector, the EOSI still pays retirees a lump-sum payment upon retirement but its conversion into a pension — with regular payments during retirement guaranteeing social security for old age — has not yet seen the light of day.

With developed countries and even developing countries establishing functional old-age pension schemes, Lebanon’s lack of reforms is alarming. Over the past four decades, several draft bills were put forth to the Lebanese Parliament aiming to reform the current retirement system and adopt a pension scheme, yet none have passed. The majority of the proposed reforms aimed to address the numerous drawbacks of the EOSI system, such as the large one-time payment as opposed to much smaller regular monthly payments, the lack of social security coverage for the self-employed and workers of the informal sector and the low employer contribution to the EOSI fund, which currently stands at 8 percent of the employee’s monthly salary.

Two paths through retirement

When designing any social security scheme, there are essentially two polarized approaches. The first is to define the benefits of the scheme — such as the payments during retirement — and subsequently determine the cost of those benefits, paid in the form of contributions by the employer, the employee and the government. These are known as defined benefit (DB) schemes. The second is to set the contributions to be paid by the participants of the scheme, which ultimately determine the level of benefits at the point of retirement. These are known as defined contribution (DC) schemes. Recent history has seen hybrid plans that combine both DC and DB schemes.

Back in 2004, the World Bank initiated a project supported by former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri to implement a DC pension scheme.  The cabinet voted in favor of it, but it was shelved after Hariri’s 2005 assassination and has since been collecting dust.

The folder is now being discussed again and amendments are being considered, following the 2008 financial crisis that significantly hit DC schemes. As pension funds witnessed their asset values dwindle, their benefits, which are not guaranteed, plummeted.

The proposal

Parliament is currently considering either implementing the 2004 law with some caveats or implementing a proposal crafted by my actuary services firm calling for the establishment of two major funds at the NSSF to care for old age: ‘Fund A’, providing old-age pension coverage that would replace the EOSI and a new fund, ‘Fund B’, providing health care coverage for retirees.

Fund A combines the characteristics of a DC and a DB scheme by setting a level of financing to be paid to the NSSF by employers and employees. The employer contributes 12.5 percent and the employee contributes 4 percent of the employee’s monthly salary. The fund also guarantees a one percent accrual rate for every year of contribution as a minimum level of benefits for retirees, which ensures a decent standard of living. The design of Fund A aims to facilitate the NSSF’s work by linking the level of minimum benefits, contributions and the ceiling on contributable salaries to the average wage of covered employees.

It is worth noting that currently, the EOSI contribution is applied based on the full salary. In the current law, contributions to the health indemnity and the family allowance fund are capped to a percentage of a fixed salary that does not take into account rising wages.

Fund A would also accommodate a gradual expansion of coverage to all informal sector employees and employers, as well as self-employed persons who currently do not benefit from NSSF coverage.

The introduction of Fund B aims to provide healthcare to those most in need of it in our society: the elderly.

It calls on the government, employers and employees to contribute 2.5 percent, 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, of the employee’s monthly salary. It also calls on the retirees to pitch in, through their pension, by providing 0.6 percent of their last monthly salary.

This proposal, currently being discussed in Parliament, aims to alleviate the burden on the Lebanese through a just social protection scheme.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Economics & Policy

Q&A – Ghazi Aridi

by Zak Brophy
written by Zak Brophy

The Minister of Public Works and Transportation Ghazi Aridi is in charge of everything from the road networks to the aviation sector. What is more, he is one of three ministers representing the man who is tentatively holding the ruling coalition together: Walid Joumblatt. Executive met with the minister on August 13 for a sit down to talk beaches, busses, planes and politics. 

E  You recently submitted a draft law regulating the fees for private use of the public coastal lands, but the law was rejected. Why? 

No, everything is okay. Only today I met some people and we discussed the levels of the taxes and they have some comments, which I have taken on board and will present to the ministry. There are some legal and illegal projects on the coast and these fees will apply to all of them.

E  If they are illegal then why will you allow them to stay?

They are a fact.

E  But why will they remain?

They will pay but they don’t have any right [sic].

E  If they don’t have the right why won’t the law be enforced?

Unfortunately until now I have not been able to enforce the law due to resistance on the ground. In all the regions these projects have behind them parties or certain powerful people.

I tried to implement the law but this has been a question for more than 35 years. What can I do personally? I discussed it at the cabinet but I did not succeed in bringing about a final decision, but I cannot leave the situation as it is now, not receiving money from them. So I proposed this new project, which is not a change in the law but a change in the fees charged, or taxes if you like, and it will be implemented.

E  Can you give me details of the fees that will be applied? 

I can’t remember the levels.

E  Back in May you announced you had launched a tender for 250 public buses. Where are we with that project now?

Two days ago we finished with the tender and we have a meeting planned with the prime minister to decide on it in the coming days and we will invite the companies to participate in the tender. We have a master plan, which is finished, and when the tender is finished and we have chosen the companies we will be able to distribute [the busses] to all of the areas of Lebanon.

E  Do you have an idea of when we can expect to see them on the ground?

No, I cannot say anything now but I know there are so many companies that are interested. There will be many offers from China, Poland, Romania, Germany and elsewhere but I cannot say what will happen in the end.   

E  Lebanon is a signatory to the Open Skies agreement, which is intended to liberalize Lebanon’s aviation sector and increase competition. Is this a policy you support?

We don’t have any problems. Everything is organized. Middle East Airlines [MEA] is the priority for me and I am doing my best to protect them and I think they are doing very well.

E  MEA has been accused of resisting competition and you personally of supporting them in this pursuit, which stymies the sector and tourism within Lebanon. What is your response?

We are not resisting competition. I am protecting MEA and I am proud of this.

E  But by protecting them are you not decreasing competition?

This is not true, there are so many companies that are coming to Beirut and we don’t have any problem, but the priority is for MEA. If MEA requests slots here and there, they are always refused. ‘We don’t have places or slots’, they say. I discuss with the ministers abroad and explain we have our rights also. After discussing they accept, so in this way I protect them. 

E  The 2002 law for the aviation sector stipulates the creation of a Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority to regulate the sector.  This has not happened. Why?

We are preparing the nominations now.  

E  The law was passed more than 10 years ago…. 

I was not the minister all of this time. By the time you go to print we will have nominated the board and created this structure.  [The board had not been nominated by the time Executive went to print.]

E  Will it have independence from your ministry?

They will have their prerogatives that they can work within and they will be funded from the government’s general budget.

E  Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud has been calling for opening up the airport to more budget airlines and says there is resistance from MEA and your ministry. What is your response?

No, we resolved this 10 days ago with Fadi Abboud and Mohammad Hout, chairman of MEA, and the chairman of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA); we drew up a master plan that everybody is happy with.

E  Who has the authority to decide who gets which routes at which times?

The Civil Aviation Authority and MEA.

E  So MEA helps decide who flies which routes to and from Lebanon?

Yes and we do feasibility studies as well.

E  Imperial Jet is an executive jet carrier that is based in Lebanon and was bringing good business to the country, but has had its Air Operation Certificate (AOC) revoked and been refused to fly even on its German AOC. The Shura Council (Lebanon’s highest court) has overruled this decision. Why have you ignored the Shura Council on this issue? 

There is nothing to say on this issue. They have had so many problems with the DGCA so two or three years ago I took this decision and I insist I will stick to it.

E  On what basis? At least twice the Shura Council ruled that they have the right to fly from Lebanon.

I don’t think it did.

E  I have the documents. It did.

I have the right to reject their decisions as I know very well what happened with [the company’s case]. 

E  Were they not punished because thy refused to “make friends” and help important people make money from their business here?

Who? Me?

E  Not you necessarily, but…

[Interjects] This is not true. I know the file very well, and I have taken the decision and I am insisting on keeping on the same way. This is my decision. [Slams table].

E  The Council for Development and Reconstruction is currently implementing an urban transport development project for the greater development area. What purview does your ministry have over this?

This is under our authority and if there is something to discuss with them then we are ready to discuss it. There is a cooperation between us. This is under our responsibility including the issuing of contracts and tenders and so on.

E  During your time in office what tangible results can you point to?

I can’t answer all of them now but we have done so many projects concerning the roads and the rights of the drivers and the master plan. But I am not alone and our ministry is not the only one responsible for these projects. 

E  Will the electoral reform law pass?

I don’t think it will pass. This is a game, from the other parties that is, but not the President [Michel Sleiman]. The President said “I told the people we would finish the law and send it to the Parliament.” What will happen in the Parliament he cannot know so we respect this decision. As for the other people, they have this project and they know we won’t accept it and they are preparing a law to protect their interests. We cannot accept this, but they insisted. 

E  Is Walid Joumblatt considering a break from the governing coalition?

Concerning the election we are awaiting the law. We can’t say anything before the law.  But electorally speaking everything is possible.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Economics & Policy

Executive Insight – Who owns the sea?

by Malek Takieddine
written by Malek Takieddine

In January 2007, Cyprus and Lebanon, both signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), signed an agreement on the delimitation of their exclusive economic zones (EEZ) based on the internationally accepted method of equidistance, which consists of determining a median line between two opposite or adjacent coastlines.

Two years later, major offshore natural gas reserves were discovered off the Israeli coast with the potential to satisfy Israel’s domestic energy needs and make the country a substantial exporter. In January 2009 the Tamar Field was discovered near the port city of Haifa containing 240 billion cubic metres (BCM) of natural gas, while the 14 BCM Dalit Field near the northern city of Hadera was tapped in April that year and in June 2010 the world’s largest gas discovery of the decade was made at the Leviathan off the coast of Haifa, with approximately 460 BCM of natural gas. In 2010, the United States Geological Survey estimated that the entire Levant Basin, encompassing parts of Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus, could contain as much as 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 3.45 trillion cubic meters of recoverable natural gas. For comparison: Iraq, ranked as the 11th country worldwide in proven gas reserves, has 3.1 trillion cubic meters of gas.

In July 2010 and October 2010, Lebanon submitted to the United Nations the charts and lists of geographical coordinates of points marking the Southern Median Line and the Southern Part of the Western Median Line, to delimit its EEZ.

In December 2010, Israel and Cyprus concluded and ratified their own agreement on the delimitation of the EEZ. Israel deposited its own unilateral claim to the northern limit of its maritime space with the United Nations on July 12, 2011. Furthermore, in August 2011, Lebanon’s Parliament enacted a maritime boundary law (Law number 163). The relevant coordinates were subsequently determined by governmental decree in September 2011 (Decree number 6433) and were made subject to possible amendments in the future based on negotiations with neighboring states.

Wherein the problem lies

The delimitation of maritime areas between two or more states is governed by international law as mainly reflected in UNCLOS, precedence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and customary practice of coastal states. International law provides that coastal states are invited to seek the delimitation of their maritime boundaries by agreement and must show evidence of having exhausted all routes through negotiations (although not necessarily direct negotiations) before resorting to any other settlement procedures. The existence of overlapping claims over maritime zones is not an unusual occurrence, and has in fact become more frequent in recent decades, with a tremendous increase in maritime space coming under the jurisdiction of coastal states.

The maritime area of overlap between Israel and Lebanon covers an estimated 873,722 square kilometers, running from the coast to the median line between Cyprus and Israel and Cyprus and Lebanon. Both states claim that this area falls within their jurisdiction based on differing calculations of the outermost limits of their respective EEZs. Lebanon considers Point 23 on the list of geographical coordinates, which is claimed by Lebanon to be tri-equidistant between the three countries, as the endpoint of its southern maritime border with Israel, and the southwestern limit of its EEZ. On the other hand, Israel considers Point 1, which falls around 17 kilometers north of Point 23, as the endpoint of its northern maritime border with Lebanon.

Does Lebanon have a stronger case?

Lebanon claims its coordinates are based on the internationally recognized equidistance method, which remains the most frequently adopted method for delimiting maritime boundaries between states. This meets the criteria of geographical factors and customary international law that govern the delimitation of maritime areas between states. It is also consistent with Lebanon’s desire to uphold international law and its commitments as a signatory to UNCLOS, to which Israel is not a party.

Lebanon claims that Point 23 was determined using objective unambiguous mathematical principles and results in the equitable distribution of maritime space. Unless successfully contested, this should in principle correspond to the ‘equitable/relevant circumstances principle’ governing the delineation of EEZs.

It is not clear what reasonable factors, technical or otherwise, led Israel to determine Point 1 as the northwestern endpoint to its maritime border. Israel’s position reflects a lack of consideration for both equitability and relevant circumstances, relying solely on the coordinates of a provisional end point in the agreement between Cyprus and Lebanon.

Moreover, the Cyprus-Lebanon agreement confirms the provisional nature of Point 1 in accordance with customary international maritime law. The agreement states that “the geographical coordinates of Points 1 and 6 could be reviewed and/or extended and duly revised as necessary in light of further delimitation of the EEZ with other concerned neighboring states and in accordance with an agreement to be reached in this matter by the neighboring states concerned”. Thus, it can be argued that such a provisional point cannot be taken as a basis for the final (let alone unilateral) delimitation of the maritime boundaries by Israel and would not meet the requirements of the ‘equitable solution’ principle set by Article 74 of UNCLOS.

Lebanon may argue that although Israel is not party to UNCLOS, previous practice confirms that Israel accepts the equidistance principle. In the delimitation of the maritime boundaries between Israel and Jordan in the Gulf of Aqaba, Israel drew its maritime boundary between the coastal point and a tri-equidistance point, that is to say of equal distance from the three coasts at the head of the Gulf.

Lebanon may also argue that Israel’s claim is undermined by its previous acceptance of the median line with Lebanon as a de facto boundary between the two countries, as demonstrated in its delineation of hydrocarbon licensing blocks along its northern maritime border — notably the Alon D and F Blocks. This analysis is supported by ICJ precedence in the case of Tunisia-Libya 1982 where a line drawn by the Italian colonial administration in 1919 was recognized by the ICJ as a de facto working boundary that had been observed over a considerable period of time and respected by both parties in issuing their oil exploration concessions.

Finally, it could be noted that there are strong indications that Israel’s claims over the overlapping area are of a political nature and are not based on any declared solid legal or technical foundations beyond the adoption of Point 1 in the agreement between Lebanon and Cyprus.

In summary, the Lebanese legal position is relatively strong as it is based on the principle of equidistance, which is a commonly applied method in such disputes. However, a lasting settlement may also have to take into consideration any other relevant circumstances “in order to achieve an equitable solution” as per Article 74 of UNCLOS.

1 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Real Estate

Developing debauchery in downtown

by Nabila Rahhal
written by Nabila Rahhal

In the olden days, Uruguay Street, behind what today is the Samir Kassir Square, was better known as the Souk El Kmash, or the “Clothes Market”, and was famous for high-end tailors and shops full of trendy attire. Today, and a year into its revival, it is becoming known for its bars and restaurants and is considered by many to be one of the most popular nightlife streets in Beirut. 

Just before sunset, the tables on bar terraces start filling up. By 10 p.m. the street is in full swing, with music filling the night and fashionable people parading up and down the walkway. A year after its conception the street already has a loyal fan base.

“I love coming here because the age group is perfect: I don’t see any teens around, and I also don’t see people who are my parents’ age,” says Sumaya Khoury, a Uruguay Street frequenter.  Another fan speaks of the diversity in the street saying: “Each place has its own character, from Spanish tapas to American cuisine and from Irish beer to Uruguayan signature drinks, so I can pick and choose whatever suits my mood that night.”

Detractors speak of it being not for their age group, and also of it feeling a bit false — a common contention among the dissenters of Beirut’s rebuilt downtown area.

Solidere and Venture DT

Uruguay Street is basically a development project, the first time in Lebanon this concept is applied to bars, and since it is still relatively new, the street still has a lot of room to grow.

It all began with Solidere’s vision to “create a dedicated area for bar hopping away from the residential areas in Downtown,” says George Nour, assistant general manager for Business Operations and Relations with Public Authorities in Solidere. To this end, they found Uruguay Street, and more specifically the municipality building that Solidere co-owns with the Municipality of Beirut, to be the ideal location.

To actualize their plans, recounts Nour, Solidere first approached established bar managers independently, but many were hesitant to risk being first on the street. Solidere then turned to Venture DT, a development and consulting company owned by Rabih Saba and Marwan Ayoub.

“When we signed with Venture DT, we got a company with the right contacts and momentum to attract the bar managers who would be in line with our vision of the street,” says Nour. As a “one shot deal” for a period of six years, Solidere leased its share of 10 ground-floor outlets in the municipality building to Venture DT, who in turn sublet them to the current bar owners. The remaining three venues in the building are owned by the Beirut municipality, and are currently vacant with no apparent plans to develop them.

Venture DT, according to Ayoub, followed two rent formulas with their tenants: either a fixed annual fee of approximately $1,000 per square meter (sqm) per year, or a percentage on sales in the venues where they are partners or have shares, such as Cassis, Julep’s and Tinto. With areas varying between 26 and 120 sqm, average rent is between $26,000 to $120,000 annually.

Ayoub says Venture DT approached the street as they would any development project: “We had a master plan to create a European style bar street which would be coherent with its community.” By European, Ayoub means pedestrian-only streets one sees in Barcelona or St. Torino with outdoor bars open all day. “To implement our plan, we handpicked the tenants according to their past successes and to the type of cuisine or concept they had to offer, as we were going for complementary venues to create a coherent whole,” he says. 

Ayoub and Saba did not have to twist any arms to sublet their venues, as the benefits of having a bar in such a location are many. “I could see the potential in the street straight away,” says Toni Rizk, owner of TRI, which owns Uruguay Cocktail Bar and Collins, among other locales in Beirut. “Its easily accessible location in the heart of the city and proximity to all areas was a tempting aspect for me. Another attractive feature of the street is since it is a business district, it does not have the problems caused by disturbances to residents in terms of music or traffic flow,” continues Rizk. He adds that based on the success and the positive experience of his first venture in Uruguay Street, Uruguay Cocktail Bar, he decided to open Collins Urban Bar, the last vacant venue owned by Solidere that opened its doors at the beginning of the summer.  Karim Jaber, general manager of Add Mind, which owns Cassis on Uruguay Street, adds that an advantage of the street is that it is pedestrian, meaning less traffic flow problems, and an added entertainment value for customers. Rabih Mockbel, owner of Bronx Restaurant and Bar, says he believes that the urban business feel of the street makes it ideal for people to come enjoy after-work drinks. 

 

Return on investment

Ayoub estimates pub owners invested between $250,000 to $500,000 in their bars and make between  $1,000 to $4,000 per night, depending on the number of seats and whether it’s a weekend or not. Pub owners Executive spoke to expect to make back their investment in one to three years, depending on the political situation and whether the place is a restaurant or a bar, with bars having a faster return on investment.

Operating within a planned project, and under the many rules and procedures of Solidere, is new to bar owners on the street who are more used to the idea of “each man for himself.” Nour sees the rules and procedures as necessary to establish fair play among the bars and not have one venue overpower another in terms of music or eccentric décor. Bar owners interviewed mainly appreciate aspects of Solidere’s presence, such as security guards and the added market value Solidere’s name brings to some clients. However, they complain about the rules sometimes being so rigid they end up hindering their work or incurring unnecessary extra expenses.

“Add Mind already has experience with Solidere through Iris,” says Jaber. According to him, “Solidere puts down rules and makes you spend a lot when you know you could do it in a different or cheaper way, and then they might change their mind, which is frustrating and costly.” However, Jaber believes that it is Solidere’s planning which will stop the street from growing chaotically, as what happened with other bar streets such as Makdessi Street in Hamra or Gemmayze in Ashrafieh.

Looking ahead

The street’s future is still in the process of being built. According to Nour, Solidere does not own any other outlets on the street but is still involved in the development of the street as it is part of Downtown. “We have had a success story so far with Uruguay Street and believe this is encouraging other bar and restaurant operators to rent the remaining vacant outlets in the street,” says Nour. “We are also encouraging retail shops that cater to young adults to consider the street as well.” Bronx’s Mockbel, for example, is already looking down the street and opening an oriental restaurant called Bhar, which will mainly cater to businesses on the street.

Pub owners generally seem optimistic about the future of Uruguay Street. Jaber says the street is not a trend like others. Rizk sums it up by saying, “Bar streets in Lebanon generally have six-year life spans before things start to go downhill either because the residents complain or because it becomes overcrowded, such as Monot and Gemmayze.” He adds that, “Uruguay Street has avoided those circumstances, but still, keeping good relationships with the surrounding community and maintaining the momentum we have achieved in the street is key to its continuing success.”

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Comment

Clan diplomacy

by Nicholas Blanford
written by Nicholas Blanford

The mainly Shia tribes of the Bekaa Valley are fiercely independent, live by strict traditions of honor and clan solidarity and scorn the dictates of the Lebanese state. In the past month, the Bekaa tribes have hit the headlines in Lebanon with brazen displays of defiance toward the state, leaving the government looking impotent and providing another headache for Hezbollah, which is already reeling from a succession of crises.

The abduction of more than 20 Syrians in Lebanon by the Meqdad clan came in retaliation to the kidnapping of Hassan Meqdad in Damascus. The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) accused Hassan Meqdad of being a member of Hezbollah. Hezbollah and the Meqdad family have denied the claims, with the latter saying that he was an employee of a Lebanese bank.

The tit-for-tat kidnappings were not the first since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March last year. In May, the FSA kidnapped three Lebanese Shias, one of whom was from the powerful Jaafar clan. In response, the Jaafars kidnapped more than 30 Syrians and fought running battles with the FSA for a week. A subsequent prisoner swap settled the matter.

The kidnappings by the Meqdads in August gained greater prominence than the earlier Jaafar abductions because of the clan’s decision to hold a series of well-attended press conferences in southern Beirut. The Meqdads refused to meet with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, scrapped with Ali Meqdad, a Hezbollah Member of Parliament, and left the tourism ministry wringing its hands as the few Gulf visitors to Beirut saw their respective governments issue emergency warnings to leave.

This was the second humiliation for the Lebanese government at the hands of the Bekaa clans inside a month. In early August, the annual hashish eradication program was cancelled in the face of unusually stiff resistance by a coalition of three Bekaa tribes, who had earlier formed a mutual defense pact to protect their lucrative but illicit crops. The Sharif, Jaafar and Shammas families agreed that they would come to each other’s assistance the moment the army and police arrive at a hashish field with their tractors. In the village of Deir Al Wassah, a Jaafar stronghold, a column of army and police vehicles was ambushed by rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, leaving several soldiers wounded. The residents of Yammouneh, the Sharif family, blocked the road leading to the village with burning tires and denied access to the army. Minister Charbel was obliged to visit Yammouneh to appease the villagers and forge a deal to end the crisis.

Hashish cultivation in the Bekaa has long been a source of controversy in Lebanon. In the early 1990s, the farmers agreed to stop growing hashish as part of an internationally funded donor program that would encourage the cultivation of alternative crops. But the promised funds never came — successive governments blamed foreign donors for reneging on their promises, while the foreign donors claimed Lebanon never drew up realistic proposals. Either way, by the late 1990s, the impoverished farmers began growing hashish again.

The tribal alliance between the Jaafar, Shammas and Sharif families is an interesting development and could see the Bekaa clans becoming a potent force. The Zeaiters apparently declined to join the alliance and lost much of their hashish. The Christian hashish farmers of Deir Al Ahmar allowed the army to eradicate their crops, following assurances from a political figure who has strong support in the town that they would be compensated by the state.

Only the tribal alliance seems to have successfully seen off the government and protected their crops. The alliance has apparently encouraged some clans in the northern Bekaa to consider forming their own alliance to protect their hashish crops.

Such displays of cross-clan unity would be a serious headache for Hezbollah, which has traditionally sought to appease and mollify the tribes to maintain its political influence in the area. Significantly, Hezbollah apparently green-lighted the hashish eradication program this year and even permitted the army into one of its “security pockets” near Yammouneh in an attempt to outflank Jaafar gunmen, according to members of the Jaafar clan. The move angered the Jaafars: according to one prominent member of the family, some 200 Jaafars serving with Hezbollah quit the party in protest.

Given the looming parliamentary elections, Hezbollah may have to do some serious fence mending with the tribes in the months ahead.

 

NICHOLAS BLANFORD is the Beirut-based correspondent for The Times of London and The Christian Science Monitor

 

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Business

Talent rising

by Maya Sioufi
written by Maya Sioufi

Three Lebanese entrepreneurial companies, Mosaic Marble, At7addak and ElementN, have been added to the network of New York-based Endeavor, the nonprofit organization supporting established entrepreneurs in emerging markets. The selection, which took place in London in June, saw a total of 17 high-impact entrepreneurs from Brazil, Columbia, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico and Uruguay added to the network, bringing the total number of entrepreneurs supported by Endeavor to 443 in 13 emerging markets. Lebanon, which along with Mexico saw the highest number of companies selected, now has seven entrepreneurs on Endeavor’s network after four companies were selected last year, the organization’s first year of operation in the country. To understand what each company has to offer and their strategy going forward, Executive sat with the founders, Taline Assi of Mosaic Marble, Brahms Chouity of At7addak and Rabih Nassar of ElementN.

Challenging the gamers

If Mark Zuckerberg [chief executive of Facebook] could do it, why couldn’t I? This little kid is younger than me,” says Brahms Chouity, founder of At7addak.com (which means “I challenge you” in Arabic).

Chouity says he was inspired to start the dot-com company in February 2011. At that time he was bumming around playing video games, on sabbatical with his pregnant wife, away from their hectic lifestyle managing several companies. But Chouity’s new hobby became too much for his wife to handle: “This can’t continue; either you stop playing or you make a business out of it,” she said, and that’s when he got the idea to set up At7addak.com, a social platform for gamers in the Arab world where they can challenge each other to earn points and cash through online tournaments.  Chouity’s prior expertise was in the hospitality industry, so with no experience setting up a dot-com company, he went about hiring the smartest kids on the block, selecting top graduates from Lebanon’s universities, or “the lifeblood of the company” he says. The 11 employees of At7addak own 10 percent of the stock options, a percentage Chouity intends to eventually raise as “these guys own the concept; I support them to grow.”

Once the smart kids got on board, the dot-com startup spent several months building a unique gaming software, which links all consoles and computers to the At7addak system. Here’s how it works: you open an account on At7addak’s website free of charge, link your PlayStation or Xbox by inputting the ID of your console and bam! You are linked. You can challenge players across the Arab world —  the At7addak platform covers 15 games now, including big hits such as FIFA and Call of Duty — and your score is automatically updated to the website.

The online startup had 50,000 registered users as of July, 10 million viewers on their website per month and 200,000 fans on their Facebook page, the second highest number of fans of any website in the Middle East. At7addak also publishes articles in English and in Arabic covering new releases of games, previews of upcoming games and testing of electronics; think of it as the CNET.com of the gaming industry.

Playing for revenue
With no subscription fees, the company makes money through sponsorships of its tournaments. Its clients are made up of high profile names: American video game developer Electronic Arts, Swiss provider of PC accessories Logitech, American semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and video console provider PlayStation ME. For this year, At7addak is expected to rack in some $700,000 in revenues from these sponsorship deals. “[It’s] a subtle way of pushing a brand,” says Chouity. “While these gamers are doing the thing they are most passionate about, in the middle of game, they get a video of a new tournament with the brand of a [sponsor].”

Going forward, however, Chouity aims to diversify the company’s  revenue sources. He plans an increase in advertisement on their website and product placements by their staff who, through the broadcasting of video news covering games, should eventually become “icons” for gamers in the region. A store selling At7addak branded products, as well as promoted games and gaming accessories, is also on the agenda. Eventually a premium membership, giving additional benefits, should become an added source of income, but that’s for later. “I don’t want to charge any of the users until the free service is absolutely spotless,” says Chouity.

A good headstart
With a potentially lucrative business model, which is “light to manage”, other hungry entrepreneurs could start to imitate. “We need to grow as quickly as possible before anyone else does the same thing, as anyone with time and resources can replicate our automated software,” says Chouity. His big dream is to create the ‘Arab Gaming League’, a ‘Star Academy’ for gamers who would represent their countries and play against each other. Eventually, he sees the online company building a social platform catered to different countries — a local At7addak for Turkey, Asia, North America, etcetera — and linking the different platforms to each other. “That’s huge, that’s world domination,” says Chouity.

With the new sources of revenues slated to start pouring in next year, Chouity expects the company to generate a “realistic” $3 million in 2013, and then grow by an annual 25 percent. Entirely self-funded for now, he does not intend on raising capital at least for the next year or two. Eventually, Chouity says he would consider the sale of a stake or even the entire company to a strategic partner who would “come in and explode it.” He will not be considering venture capitalists — Chouity has already had several offers especially after being selected by Endeavor, a non-profit nongovernmental organization that supports high impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets — but he would be interested in selling to a larger regional company in the same industry. “If the offer is good and they want to take us over completely, I wouldn’t oppose. I’ve already got my next venture prepared,” says Chouity.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Real estate

For your information

by Executive Editors
written by Executive Editors

More ups and downs for Bahrain

Despite simmering unrest and a tarnished image over alleged human rights abuses, the number of real estate transactions in Bahrain rose 59 percent in the first half of this year, according to Survey and Land Registration Bureau statistics obtained by Al Watan newspaper. The vast majority of those transactions were made by Bahrainis, but 10.1 percent did come from overseas buyers. In total, these transactions were worth $842 million. But all is not well for the sector. Prime rents in the capital city Manama dropped 16 percent in the first quarter, making it by far the worst performing city in the world over that time period. The closest city was Hong Kong, which saw a 4.1 percent drop in rents.

Lebanon’s real estate sector: only slightly more transparent

AIn its bi-annual global real estate sector report, the 2012 Real Estate Transparency Index, international real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle ranked Lebanon fifth in the Middle East and North Africa and 66 out of 97 countries worldwide in terms of transparency. And while Lebanon has moved up in its global ranking this year, the sector is still only considered to be “semi-transparent”. According to the report, one of the biggest reasons for Lebanon’s ascent was the “newly formed Real Estate Association of Lebanon, [which implemented] other improvements in transparency by better regulating the previously chaotic brokerage industry.”

Regional energy investments soar

Results of a study released last month indicate that new investment in the energy sector is on the rise this year. This is welcome news for a Middle East and North Africa, which has long struggled with meeting its energy needs. The report by Ventures Middle East, in which energy-stricken Lebanon receives barely a mention, points to 97 new water and power projects across the Middle East that have started or will start construction this year, with a total value of $32.7 billion. The top beneficiaries are the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The UAE has 10 new water and power projects on tap to begin construction by year’s end, worth a total of $1.5 billion — namely the $740 million Noor 1 solar energy plant and the second phase of the $580 million Emal Power Plant. Saudi Arabia has 15 new power projects worth $8.8 billion, led by the $1.2 billion Shuaiba 2 Power Plant and the $2 billion Al Qurayyah Independent Power Plant. Kuwait is set to build $4.2 billion worth of new water and power plants, spread over 19 different projects. The largest of the group will be the $2.7 billion Al Zour North Independent Water and Power Plant.

BoA: Saudi Arabia to lead regional construction boom

A new Bank of America-Merrill Lynch report predicts that Saudi Arabia will lead a new 15-year construction boom across the Middle East and North Africa, led by spending on regional infrastructure projects. The report states that the construction sector will benefit from “reforms to raise productivity of the non-oil sector”, led by the kingdom. The study also predicts that investments in construction across the MENA will total $4.3 trillion by 2020, which would be an increase of nearly 80 percent over current spending this year.

Dubai property sizes shrinking

Long known for outlandish, and extremely large property sizes, Dubai is seeing more transactions in smaller properties during the first half of this year. Figures released in mid-July by the Dubai government’s Land Department show that the average size of residential properties purchased in the emirate shrank by nearly half in 2012 to date. And while the total number of all real estate transactions rose by 24.5 percent over the same time last year, to 12,521, the size and value of those properties has dropped by 44.8 percent. In the first half of 2011, the average size of purchases was 533 square meters. Today’s average size is 294 sqm.

Mubarak-era tax law coming soon to Egypt

Egypt is pushing ahead with a controversial law that was originally passed under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian daily Al Ahram reported in late July. The country’s new finance minister, Momtaz el-Said told the paper that a new real estate tax law would go into effect in January of next year, but with amendments to some of the most widely criticized portions of the original draft of the law. Said remarked that the amended law will exempt citizens’ homes from the tax, and that 25 percent of funds collected by the government would go toward developing poorer areas across Egypt. He estimated that the new tax would bring in $330 million annually for the state.

Mubarak-era tax law coming soon to Egypt

Egypt is pushing ahead with a controversial law that was originally passed under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian daily Al Ahram reported in late July. The country’s new finance minister, Momtaz el-Said told the paper that a new real estate tax law would go into effect in January of next year, but with amendments to some of the most widely criticized portions of the original draft of the law. Said remarked that the amended law will exempt citizens’ homes from the tax, and that 25 percent of funds collected by the government would go toward developing poorer areas across Egypt. He estimated that the new tax would bring in $330 million annually for the state.

Saudis hopeful with new mortgage law

In June, Executive reported on a newly approved draft mortgage law in Saudi Arabia, a first for the kingdom, meant “to ensure the fairness of the transaction and the safety of the financial system.” In late July Arab News reported that experts across the kingdom expect the law to modernize the sector and attract more foreign investment. “After the implementation of mortgage law, we expect the Saudi market to witness an increase in the amount of foreign investment to 70 percent,” Aziza Mansour, chairman of real estate developer, Aziza Mansour, told the paper. He added, “Many real estate companies have been looking to invest in the Saudi real estate market. However, new Emirati, Japanese, and Korean companies would join the Saudi real estate market very soon. I believe that Makkah is the most demanded residential area where a Korean company will start the building of five residential projects very soon.”

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail