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Last summer, landowners erected a barrier separating Dalieh, along Beirut’s western coast, from the city and its inhabitants. It set off a tsunami of public criticism, protest and activist organizing —...
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Striking a balance
“This law is a step aimed at achieving justice, and after 30 years without a law this step has become necessary and inevitable,” said MP Robert Ghanem, chair of the Parliament’s Administration and...
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A place all their own
So that every family may own a home. This, according to the chair-director general of Lebanon’s Public Corporation for Housing (PCH), Rony Lahoud, is the overarching idea under which the understaffed...
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PCH: An explainer
The housing loans that commercial banks offer with the support of the Public Corporation for Housing (PCH), colloquially known as Iskan loans or PCH loans, are engineered according to a smart financing...
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The dangers of stimulus
Subsidies are always tricky and generally dangerous. Benefits are impossible to predict with certainty and unintended consequences range from valuation bubbles and boosts of inflation to loss of...
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Build it and they will come
Driving past the rows of vineyards and the occasional industrial factory in the fields of Taanayel, West Bekaa, one of the last things you would expect to see is 200,000 square meters of entertainment...
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Charting a path
Decades of research has shown that affordable housing is a cornerstone of urban livability and wellbeing. Beyond providing shelter, housing is a platform for improving health, education, economic...
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A need to even the playing field
Recently, CEOs of high growth companies were asked by Inc. magazine to pick their most admired entrepreneur. It turned out that the majority opted for Elon Musk (founder and CEO of Tesla Motors and...
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More than spare change
Lebanon sorely lacks affordable housing options. This is true across the country, but is especially acute in Beirut. Renting in the capital is a case in point. Rental agreements signed before 1992, in...
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For better or for worse
It was the financial markets’ first big surprise of the year. In January 2015, the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the Alpine republic’s central bank, scrapped its 1.20 ceiling that limited the franc’s...
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The evolving role of the central bank
“The overall duty of the [Lebanese Central] Bank shall be the safeguard[ing] of currency as fundamental guarantee for permanent economic and social development, and more specifically: – safeguarding a...
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Seasons in the sun
The first half of 2015 has been good for the Lebanese hospitality and tourism sector and, across the industry, hopes are high for a positive summer season. “With respect to the economic and security...
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Reconstructing cultural tourism
You see them adorning the walls of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport and the Ministry of Tourism, in picture books about Lebanon or even flashing by in advertisements promoting the country....
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Providing security for Lebanon’s top end hotels
With the summer season in full swing, it seems reasonable to ask if the level of security at Lebanon’s hotels is sufficient to continue attracting tourists during these uncertain times. A difficult and...
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Surfin’ Lebanon
Located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea — however polluted they may be — and enjoying a summer season that stretches from mid May until the end of September, Lebanon’s coast is dotted with...
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Alternative lodging
Interest in authentic and traditional experiences has been growing over the past several years in Lebanon, as exemplified by the rise in the number of restaurants in traditionally designed homes or...
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Church and state
Earlier this year, Executive started an investigation into an expansion project at the Port of Beirut (POB) aimed at enhancing capabilities and readying Lebanon’s primary port for future competition....
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Combating a global scourge
Child labor afflicts over 160 million children worldwide, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO) — making it one of the most pressing human rights issues globally. Fortunately, the...
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Exploration on hold
This article was written in May for the June edition of Executive Magazine. The third well drilled in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) failed to reveal commercially exploitable natural gas...
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A port policy for all
Lebanon’s seafaring culture stretches back to at least the time of the Phoenicians. Our maritime trade has, historically, connected East to West, spreading commerce and culture across the Mediterranean...
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