(English) GLI Chairman, Mr. Jacques Sarraf, spoke during the opening ceremony of the “Arab Economic Forum” that took place in Beirut on the 2^nd of May, introducing GLI and its initiatives in order to present the experience of the Lebanese Investors locally and abroad for the fellow Arab investors and to invite them to take part in the possible opportunities for joint cooperation.

The various investment opportunities in the near horizon where discussed especially in lights of Cedre results and the PPP decree; and Chairman Sarraf noted that there is a lot to be done by the Arab countries who are still far from occupying a prominent place on the list of top ranked countries that attract investment, other than Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

In looking at the factors that got them there, it seems evident that an appropriate investment climate requiring an integrated and interdependent set of conditions must be met, first of which is stability.

The forum was a good occasion to raise the concerns and needs of investors to achieve the needed factors for a healthy investment climate, whereby Arab investors were urged to appeal to decision-makers to draft a new phase of stability in Arab countries starting in 2020.

Chairman Sarraf also noted that Lebanon seems to be already on this path despite the turbulent environment surrounding it and affecting its economy; as it has launched a large workshop to strengthen its political and legislative stability, and this is where GLI will have an important role to play with its members being investors with a long history of success.

GLI will represent a new much needed framework and will act as a Lebanese partner for investment promotion institutions and bodies in the Arab World, as it has already started with the UAE through signing an MoU with its counterpart there.

It will allow for real partnerships with the public sector away from  the burden of bureaucracy and most importantly it will bring together the Lebanese investors around the world to finance the national economy and enlarge its size without increasing the debt and burdens of interest that are putting pressure on our economy.

Finally he ended by saying that partnership means working together, taking responsibility together, and winning together. The GLI partnership represents a new stage in the history of the Lebanese economy as it is based on transparency and productivity.

Lebanese Investors’ contribution and partnership is a positive factor in reducing the cost of projects and raising the level of transparency of spending money and thus fighting corruption automatically. Arab countries and the world will come to Lebanon to invest in a better environment and in large projects dealing with roads, airports as well as oil and gas extraction and will ultimately generate great investment opportunities for all parties.