Tripoli Special Economic Zone

TSEZ PROJECT IS THE BEST PLATFORM for launching new and profitable businesses and industries in Lebanon.

What type of adaptive measures the project needed? What were the lessons of this period?

Currently, with the aggressive Lebanese economical crisis and global COVID19 situation, the main issues facing the Tripoli Special Economic Zone development are the lack of government financial support as well as the difficulty of attracting new investors from abroad. As a quick proactive decision to the current and upcoming situation, the TSEZ authority is going to launch a campaign by proposing and promoting itself to the local investors (and if possible to the foreign) as the main Lebanese economical/industrial platform that can help the Lebanese economy by offering attractive incentives to the investors interested to establish new enterprises not only in the traditional industries and agriculture, but also in the digital industry where the existence of two main centers, the Industrial and Logistics Center (ILC) and the Knowledge & Innovation Center (KIC), with a set of financial, fiscal and administrative incentives, will facilitate the creation of new business in order to increase the local production and the national exports in different sectors.

What is the status of your current project(s) and investments planned for 2020- 2021? Which are the advantages of your business and products, going forward? What are your expectations from the public sector, state projects to support the future business?

Currently, we are in the design phase where the ILC master plan/detailed infrastructure design as well as the KIC conceptual design are ready. Thus, the TSEZ two projects/centers are in the development phase where the preferable future track is to execute the development & operation of the sites through two separate PPP contracts to guarantee the budget availability, the execution transparency and operation efficiency with a relative project know-how. The public sector will be involved in the next stage through the direct support of the higher council of privatization in Lebanon which will support TSEZ in selecting the best developers/operators that fit within each of the two projects. As for the government support, it is expected to get their commitment in promoting the TSEZ projects at the national level and overseas so we can reach out the investors that might have interest in operating their businesses from Lebanon.

What transformations do you expect in your sector, their effects on the Lebanese economy, and in a regional perspective? (Areas like prices, costs, supply chain, technology disruption, financing, HR, safety & security)

The expected transformations in the free/economic zone sector at the local and regional levels are as following (by areas): Prices/cost: the proposed fees or prices for the leased lands in the TSEZ will attractive for the local investors especially when compared to the other available industrial/regular offered lands. Furthermore, compared to the regional level, the TSEZ leasing schema is very well positioned and can attract more regional investors when Lebanon reachs an acceptable financial and economical stability.

Supply Chain: the supply of raw material for the traditional industrial sectors is becoming more expensive worldwide, so in practice all similar projects in the region will be affected more or less, but the TSEZ has an essential advantage which is its proximity from the Tripoli Port (adjacent to the port) thus reducing the cost of transportation. Technology Disruption: TSEZ authority expected since four years that the technology and innovation will be the future of the industry and commerce. Accordingly, we have created the KIC to offer a platform for innovation and creativity supporting the knowledge /digital industry in Lebanon and facilitating the digital transformation not only in Lebanon but also in the region by offering online/offsite services used today as the alternative/ only available facility. Financing: currently the financing of the projects is not an easy process through the traditional funding agencies/banks, thus we are trying to open the door for the local/regional investors to create consortium or joint ventures having the required knowhow to develop and operate the project effectively.

HR: the main advantage that we have in Lebanon in general, and in the North in specific is the availability of the human resources needed to execute the TSEZ as well as the industries in TSEZ with very competitive labor cost. Safety & Security: knowing that the economical crisis in Lebanon is creating an artificial environment of instability, but Lebanon is still considered as a stable country compared to the surrounding countries even at the health level where we showed proficiency and efficiency in fighting the COVID19.

What is your message to clients and partners?

To the local investors and tenants, the TSEZ project is the best platform for launching new and profitable businesses and industries in Lebanon especially with the vast range of offered financial, fiscal and administrative incentives. To the foreign investors and tenants, Lebanon is a very attractive place to reach out Syria, Iraq and Gulf as well as Africa markets for doing business in partnership with Lebanese investors to guarantee the successful market penetration, and TSEZ is the best platform to start from ensuring the ease doing of business and the very generous exemption regime.