BEIRUT: Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) president Nabil Itani said Friday Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows in Lebanon have been growing at a steady rate and registered a 10 percent growth in 2009 out of which 70 percent went to the real estate and residential sectors.

“FDI flows in Lebanon increased from $2.68 billion in 2006 to $4.84 billion in 2009 distributed over different sectors including real estate (44.4 percent), the residential sector (26.3 percent), tourism (22.2 percent), trade (2.3 percent), agriculture (1.8 percent) and the financial sector (1.5 percent),” he said.

Itani’s remarks came during the second day of the 13th forum of the business community held at Habtoor Hotel in Sin al-Fil in the aim of discussing investment opportunities in Arab countries.

Itani said that market services and trade are the highest contributors to GDP in Lebanon while industry and agriculture, which account for 9 percent and 6.8 percent respectively, have not attracted their potential FDI.

“Moreover, Lebanon’s share of FDI in the region amounted to 6 percent in 2009 compared to only 3.8 percent in the year before,” he said.

Itani cited the most important factors which contribute to the increase in the flow of FDI to Lebanon.

“The free-market economy and laissez-faire commercial tradition welcome foreign investment with no restrictions on payments and transfers,” he said.

“Moreover, the Lebanese financial sector is one of the region's most liberal, with transparent laws and regulations, and few restrictions on bank formation.”

Itani added that Lebanon’s central location at the intersection of Europe, Asia, and Africa makes it a regional and international business hub with global market access. He also noted that Lebanon’s workforce remains a unique asset with its entrepreneurial, educated, flexible, multilingual, and multi-skilled human resources.

Itani also said that Lebanon has one of the most favorable taxation environment and fiscal incentives.

He also gave an overview of the health and education sectors in Lebanon. “The number of higher education students reached 2,712 out of 100,000 inhabitants in 2010,” he said.

Itani added that there exist 33 doctors and 34 hospitals beds in Lebanon for each 10,000 inhabitants.

Itani also noted that the quality of life in Lebanon is superior to the average quality of life in the MENA region, as the country’s score well exceeded the average regional score of 48.2.

He gave some statistics about FDI in Arab countries and said that the volume of investments in this region amounted to $7.711 billion during 2001 which is equivalent to only 0.9 percent of total foreign investments in the world (817.574 billion). “As for the year 2009, FDI in Arab countries reached $79.163 billion which is equivalent to 7.1 percent of the total investments in the world ($1.114 trillion).

Among speakers who gave presentations on the attractiveness of establishing businesses in their own countries was secretary general of appropriation and investment association in Libya Jamal al-Louchi who said that his country is characterized by its richness in natural resources such as oil.

“The involvement of the private sector in the Libyan economy is an added value as well not to forget that our political and security environments are very favorable to doing business in our country,” he said.

Louchi added that the Libyan government formulated a $120 billion developmental strategy five years ago and it will be completely implemented by the year 2018. “Another $120 billion will also be invested in 2020 which will help in creating a business friendly environment for foreigners.”

However, Louchi said, Libya does not have a very strong industry sector. “If you go to the market you will find that 95 percent of products are imported,” he said. “This is why there is a great opportunity of investing in this sector in our country especially that the government offers a lot of incentives including the cancellation of taxes on machines and equipments.”

Other speakers included director of promotion department in Jordan investment fund Nour Al Hamoud, director general of the Syrian investments association Ahmad Abdel-Aziz and representative of the special economic zone authority Akram Madadha.

At the end of the session, President of the Lebanese economic forum Rafik Zantout gave a brief about the final recommendations of the meetings held over two days in the framework of the 13th forum of the business community.

Zantout called upon Arab business men and women to contribute to Lebanon’s developmental projects. He emphasize the importance of adopting a common vision among all Arab countries in order to be able to wisely confront the negative effects of the global financial crisis. “It is also of the utmost importance to invite Arab banks to invest in financing Arab developmental projects in addition to providing more loans to the private sector,” he said.

Among the recommendations that came out of the two day conference is the need to improve the commercial laws in addition to fighting against corruption and bureaucracy in the general administrations.

“We also call upon Arab decision-makers to take the necessary measures for facilitating and allowing the free movement of businessmen in the region which is a basic requirement for the increase of investment activities between Arab countries,” said Zantout.