The Lebanese Credit Insurer has participated on June 28 and 29, 2010 in a conference on “Reforming the Investment Climate in Lebanon” under the auspices and with participation of the President of the Council of Ministers Mr. Saad Hariri.

This conference was held in the Grand Serail and organized in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank with the participation of Minister of Finance Rayya al-Hassan, Minister of Economy and Trade Mohammed Safadi, Minister of Labor Boutros Harb, Minister of Administrative Development Mohammed Fneish, Minister of Justice Ibrahim Najjar, Minister of State Adnan Kassar, head of the Middle East Department at the World Bank Hedi Larbi, and many personalities.

The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri presented the subject of improving the business environment in Lebanon, and a large number of Lebanese and international experts focused on the administrative, legal and financial flaws, as well as the political risk that destabilize the business development in Lebanon and consequently undermine the country’s competitiveness at the regional level.

The attendees suggested the establishment of a reform on many levels such as the cost of obtaining a building permit and of the creation of a business; the need to revise the laws specific to the arbitration and bankruptcy as well as the administrative delays and the major obstacles the importers and exporters are facing.

LCI has previously attended the workshops related to secure lending on June 17, 2010, where LCI’s expertise brought an important added value to the discussion. The Access to credits was also discussed during the conference. Key recommendations were suggested to modernize secured lending framework as Lebanon’s ranking on “getting credit” seems to be falling and the scheme for creditors needs standardization and clarity.

PM Hariri has finally promised to appoint a ministerial committee to follow up on the implementation of the discussed reform procedure.