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An industry-wide upgrade
Times of change and upgrades of operating systems are confusing events, or, in today’s economic lingo, disruptive. Few things can be more disruptive than the abrupt upgrade of a whole industry to a...
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Stonewalled
Executive didn’t get past security at the Grand Serail. It was March 3. The access to information law was just over a month old, and we were barking excitedly, unsure if whether we were even in front...
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Taxation without representation
For 12 years running, Lebanon has been without a budget. This does not mean the state hasn’t been collecting revenue and spending it. Rather, it means there have been no clear-cut priorities, nor a...
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Tax squeeze
Lebanon is closer to ratifying a national budget than it has been in recent memory. For the past 12 years, the country has not passed a budget into law. In recent years the roadblock has been, at least...
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Taxing tax reforms
With little official communication about the government’s proposed tax reforms and no public discussions with civil society or concerned professionals, confusion and misinformation about the proposed...
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Interview with Georges Corm
Now that the government has approved the 2017 budget, the question remains as to what new taxes or tax increases might be imposed. As Executive goes to print, the indication is that there will be some...
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A desperate chase for consolidation
There is no shortage of challenges present or overdue reforms absent in the insurance sector in Lebanon. The backlog of unsolved issues begins with the need to renew the insurance law that was adopted...
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Lapping up management of health and diseases
As the tide of transformation in the insurance industry makes its way across geographies and business lines, it not only floods the field’s core players with uncertainty, but it also affects business...
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More acquisition than merger
The sale of Al Ittihad al-Watani Insurance evolved over several years and was rumored in the Lebanese market to involve a number of valuation issues before culminating in an acquisition by NASCO...
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Taking the long view
The task of improving the Lebanese insurance sector through regulatory instruments, financial supervision and increasing governance has been pursued by the Insurance Control Commission (ICC) at the...
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Going further
Allianz SNA is one of the most active insurance companies in Lebanon and the Middle East. Executive sat down with its Chairman and Regional Chief Executive Officer, Antoine Issa, to talk about the...
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Video: Natacha Tannous interviews Makram Azar about banking, US and European...
Makram Azar is Chairman of Banking EMEA and Chairman of Barclays Bank PLC, MENA. Makram also chairs the Senior Client Group globally. Mr. Azar joined Barclays in September 2010 from Kohlberg Kravis...
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De-risking green power
Lebanon’s energy sector is characterized by a significant supply-demand imbalance, continuing growth in demand (5 percent per year), high generation costs (partly due to aging infrastructure), and a...
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Far off the target
In the first of a twelve-month series investigating Lebanon’s capacity to reach the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Gaelle Kibranian Zavzavadjian, Stephanie Nakhel and Gebran Azar take a...
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Bolstering Lebanon’s game development
With a touch of the screen, fat bunny bounces his way up the vibrantly colored mountain terrain, munching on the occasional carrot. Press too long or too little, however, and splat goes bunny into the...
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Of burgers and pizzas
It all started in 2010 with a small shop flipping burgers in a mainly residential area of Achrafieh facing Sodeco Square. Seven years later, Ministry of Food – the hospitality management company that...
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The donkey strategy
A scantily clad singer belts out another frivolous song, and not only does her video clip get banned, she has her travel privileges revoked. A university blogger dares to criticize the system only to...
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Self absorbed
Donkeys deserve more respect than they get. For some 5,000 years, humans have been using them as strong, reliable beasts of burden. We’ve made progress on the backs of these noble creatures, yet...
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Don’t sweat the details
After a rocky start that saw a several-year delay of the sector’s development as a result of political squabbling, in late April the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) announced the oil and...
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Le Gray Grows
Situated across from Martyr’s Square with a view of the mountains over the Mediterranean, Le Gray hotel has been a prominent structure in downtown Beirut’s landscape since it was founded in October...
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