Lebanon, which saw its economy expand 9 percent last year, should make the structural reforms necessary to tackle its massive debt during this period of economic growth as it will be much harder to make the required changes in less healthier times, the country’s former prime minister said.
These subjects of reform and transparency will be among the topics tackled in the Dubai Beirut Forum at the Dubai International Financial Center on June 6 when Arqaam Capital, the only investment bank to be headquartered in the DIFC, will host Lebanon’s Fuad Siniora and business leaders from across the region to explore what it takes to claim the mantle as the Middle East’s premier business hub.
"Economic and financial reforms should be done in good times because their cost will be higher and their efficiency lower in hard times,’’ said Siniora, who leads the majority party in the Lebanese parliament after stepping down as prime minister in November.
"The crisis in Europe should provide an opportunity for us in the Arab world in general and in Europe in particular, to draw the appropriate lessons -- we need to go back to economic fundamentals because they do matter,’’ he said.
The Middle East is emerging from a sovereign debt crisis in Dubai that roiled international markets last year and threatened to topple the emirate as the region’s widely acknowledged commercial centre. Dubai World, the state-owned holding company, said earlier this month that it reached an agreement with its main creditor group to restructure $23.5 billion of liabilities.
Arqaam Capital, which began operating in the DIFC in 2007, has recently turned its focus on growing its offering across the region. The Company has announced that it will open its planned equity research centre in Beirut. This new facility will in time provide coverage of the more than 300 companies currently traded on the Middle East North African and Turkish stock markets with market capitalizations of $500 million or more.
"The Middle East has enormous potential, both in terms of the latent talent within the region and its strategic geographic position allowing international firms to gain a foothold in the emerging markets,’’ said Riad Meliti, chief executive officer of Arqaam Capital. ``The Dubai Beirut Forum demonstrates the growing importance being attributed to Beirut as a market by a number of financial firms operating in Dubai and the other Gulf economies,’’ he said.
Lebanon’s public debt, accumulated over the last two decades as the country rebuilt the state’s infrastructure after a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990 and a month long conflict with Israel in 2006, reached $52 billion at the end of February.
