The sharp drop in the number of Lebanese and international companies taking part in a major construction and contracting event in Beirut was a clear indication that the market sentiment and mood appeared to have discouraged other major firms from participating.
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International Fairs and Promotions, the organizers of the 24th edition of Project Lebanon, went to great lengths to promote the annual exhibition and lure more companies to set up pavilions and stands at the Seaside Arena.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri paid a visit to the exhibition to show his support for the construction and contracting companies and to send a message to the international community that Lebanon is keen to embark on major projects in the construction sector.
But a quick comparison to 2018 showed that the number of participating companies has dropped, from around 400 Lebanese and international firms last year to just 250 this year.
“The big hit came in the construction sector,” IFP Project Manager Georges Bou Nahed told The Daily Star.
“There’s no Iskan [Housing Bank that offers subsidized loans]. Today, if you see the number of empty apartments in the country, in Beirut, and Lebanon in general, then it shows you the scope of the problem. And the construction sector is the country’s indicator, in terms of what’s going on.”
While Lebanon’s economic outlook is shining ever-less, other countries, too, have seen better days.
“I think it’s a difficult time all over the world, in Lebanon, and in Italy, in Europe,” Francesca Zadro, trade commissioner of the Italian Trade Agency in Beirut, told The Daily Star. In 2018, Italy held the position of third global supplier to Lebanon, behind China and Greece, with $1.6 billion and a market share of 8 percent.
Although participating for the 13th consecutive year, the number of Italian companies represented has fallen from 16 last year to nine this time around. “We didn’t change the size of the pavilion, it means that it’s true, it’s nine companies but the companies that came here invested in higher [larger exhibition] spaces,” Zadro said.
She added that considering the overall situation in both Lebanon and Italy, there was a general crisis of the traditional sectors. But she noted that six new Italian firms had decided to take part in Project Lebanon for the first time.
“I think it’s a very positive result. Two that were here last year and decided to come back, one came with a bigger space. Also, this is a sign of trust in the country, in the market, and in the possibility they could see last year from here,” Zadro said.
She added that companies are interested, of course, in the Lebanese market, but they are also interested in Lebanese companies that act and work in the Lebanese market and also in third countries.
Italian Ambassador Massimo Marotti also attended the conference and toured his country’s pavilion, speaking to the various companies represented.
One Lebanese company, representing Hewlett-Packard in Lebanon, and which takes part in the fair each year, was not merely interested in making business deals.
“We’re not looking [to get] more business by participating here, it’s for the exposure,” CIS BURO representative Najib Kfoury told The Daily Star.
Asked about Lebanon’s economy, Kfoury said: “We’re not in heaven now. But we’re looking to be, not in heaven, to be on the way.
“It’s affecting everybody, but you know, as Lebanese, it’s something now in our blood.
“What we need to do now is to have more friends in order to survive. It’s an economic situation affecting the Middle East. So we need to take a long breath and believe in our country, in order to have the strength to continue, ” he said. “It is in our blood ... Unfortunately!”
Last year, some 250 Lebanese companies alone took part in Project Lebanon.
This year, that number represents the total number of exhibitors.
“This year, they’re approximately down by a 100 because the situation is very difficult,” Bou Nahed said. “The fair is the mirror of the market. If the market is doing well, the fair leaps with it. And today, business exhibitions in Lebanon, if you ask any organizer, are down between 30 and 40 percent, which is the average of most of the private companies in Lebanon.”
Some countries, such as Italy and Turkey, have expanded their pavilions, while Egypt and China marked their first official participation in the event.
Also participating are France, Iran and Greece, which is taking part again after a two-year absence.
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