Business | Investment
Saudis pull out 18b riyals in investment from Lebanon
Businessmen have revealed that Saudi investments worth more than 18 billion Saudi riyals have been withdrawn from Lebanon.
- By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent
- Published: 01:13 February 24, 2008
Riyadh: Businessmen have revealed that Saudi investments worth more than 18 billion Saudi riyals have been withdrawn from Lebanon.
At the same time, the number of Lebanese been recruited to work in the kingdom has also come down, they said in a statement.
"During the past couple of years, Saudi investments worth more than 18 billion riyals have been withdrawn from Lebanon," said Abdul Mohsen Al Hokair, head of the Saudi side at the Saudi-Lebanese Business Council.
He attributed this to what he called "the fallback in the confidence of the future of the Lebanese economy" following the escalation of the political crisis and lack of security. He noted that the deteriorating situation in Lebanon has caused frustration among investors.
Realty projects
Sa'ad Al Rusayes, member of the board of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), said that the demand for Lebanon's real estate by Saudis is very low, adding that despite this there is no offers for selling these real estate projects owned by Saudis.
"Saudis are not selling their real estate projects in Lebanon as they are waiting in hope the situation will improve," he said.
Some reports estimate the real estate projects owned by Saudis in Lebanon amounted to 5.7 billion Saudi riyals. They noted that during the past two years, the demand for Lebanese luxury housing units by Saudis has declined.
Meanwhile, the number of Lebanese hired by Saudi agencies to work in the kingdom is going down as well, according to some reports. They noted that Saudis could not travel to Lebanon to recruit manpower owing to security concerns.
Observers are expecting the number of Saudis travelling to Lebanon to come down sharply due to the security situation in Lebanon.
Share this article
More from Investment
More from Business
Popular in Business
-
Budget travel
Airlines in the region
Take a pictorial look at some of the budget airlines in GCC
Business Editor's choice
-
New law to protect investor rights
Dubai land department is studying legislation to protect property purchasers
-
Global Village
Revamped layout featuring four cultures to greet visitors this season
-
Cloud computing is here to stay
Managing security effectively is critical when sharing data over the internet
