First Gulf Bank opens new branch of First Gulf Libyan Bank in Tripoli

First Gulf Bank (FGB) recently celebrated the opening of its newest branch of First Gulf Libyan Bank (FGLB) at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli.

FGLB was established as part of a strategic partnership between FGB and the Libyan Government Economic and Social Development Fund (ESDF). FGLB has authorized capital of approximately $400m, which was put forward by both FGB and the ESDF equally. The paid up capital for the FGLB is $200m, which makes it one of the largest banks currently operating in Libya.

The opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Hamed El Houderi, General Manager of ESDF and Chairman of FGLB; Mr. Abdulhamid Saeed, the Managing Director and the Vice Chairman of FGLB; and Mr. Abdelrazek Elhoush, the General Manager of the FGLB.

Mr. Abdulhamid Saeed remarked at the opening, stating that, "This is a momentous occasion for First Gulf Bank. This new branch is in line with our greater strategy to expand our services and offerings geographically. With our new branch in Tripoli, we know that we will be able to positively impact upon the development of the Libyan Financial Market and the greater economy. We also are committed to providing a host of innovative financial services to our customers."

Commenting at the opening, Mr. Abdelrazek Elhoushsaid, "The branch which we have opened here at the Rixos hotel is the first branch which we have opened outside of the First Gulf Libyan Bank Headquarters in Tripoli."

He added, "This is just the beginning, we are actively looking at other locations where we can open branches in the city of Tripoli. Outside the capital we are looking to open branches in Benghazi and Misurata. In the near future, we hope that we will be able to provide a full banking service to our customers in Libya."

Source: Press Release

Libya aims to triple power capacity within 10 years

According to The National Libya wants to triple its power generation capacity within a decade to support what it hopes will be a flood of foreign investment aimed at expanding and diversifying an economy that is heavily dependent on oil and gas exports.

The government's plan includes increasing installed electrical generation capacity to 20 gigawatts by 2020 from about 6.2gw at present. As well as supplying the domestic market, Libya is aiming to export power to Europe.

Tripoli has also set a target of supplying 10 per cent of its energy consumption from renewable sources, especially solar and wind power.

That is more ambitious than the UAE's 7 per cent renewable-energy commitment over the same period, but lower than targets set by some Mediterranean Arab neighbours such as Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon.

"The Great Jamahiriya [Libya's parliament] assigns special interest in the energy sector, acquiring knowledge, as well as increasing the energy efficiency by utilising cutting-edge technology and enhancing rationalisation of energy," the Libyan privatisation and investment board stated in an investment presentation yesterday in Abu Dhabi.

"Libya seeks to significantly contribute to regional and global programmes in the energy sector, leveraging its well-positioned geographic location [between the] European and African continents."

In addition, Tripoli would support environmental protection projects, the presentation indicated.

Libya produces most of its electricity by burning oil. This summer, energy officials said the government had launched strategic initiatives aimed at encouraging gas exploration and development, with a view to using gas for most power generation while exporting more oil. However, in the absence of large new gas discoveries, that could leave Libya without surplus gas to continue its current exports of the fuel, mainly by pipeline to Europe.



Tripoli's new renewable energy strategy may therefore be partly driven by fears that its gas development drive may fail.

On Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell said it was appraising a gas discovery on its concession in Libya's Sirte basin and would continue drilling.

Source: The National

Our Tripoli Office

We are pleased to announce that we have moved to a bigger office in Tripoli.

Tripoli office
Zanget Bakir, Dahra - Tripoli - Libya
Mobile: + 218 (0) 91 360 5043
Email: soclibya@yahoo.com
SKYPE ID: soclibya

Activities:-

The Tripoli office is located in the Dahra area in central Tripoli.
The office adds value to SOC Libya’s services for the Libyan market and provides local support for all of SOC Libya’s range of business functions.
The office offers the same services as the London-based head office.
Its main purpose and objective is to act as operational and strategic support for all SOC Libya projects in Libya and to provide in-country assistance. The office location is fully equipped and is available for our clients, whether they are local or international companies. Confidential meetings can be held with clients and business partners in the heart of Tripoli where most international businesses are based.

The working hours of the office in Tripoli are from Saturday to Thursday from 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

We look forward to welcoming you.

An Ad for SOC Libya

We would like to announce that we have recently placed an ad at Business Time Libya Magazine and here is the link (http://www.businesstime.ly/mag/issue14/). You will find us at page no 6. We would like to share your views or comments with us.

About the magazine

“BusinessTime is the first Libyan business-class advertising magazine, issued by Abjad Strategies & designed by Arkan Co. for media & marketing, It’s a monthly full English coloured advertising, guiding & servicing magazine”.

Thuraya to launch post-paid mobile satellite services in Libya

Major customers in Libya will now be able to enjoy Thuraya's post-paid mobile satellite handheld services. This comes after the signing of a commercial agreement between the mobile satellite operator and Al Jeel Al Jadeed, a firm specialised in satellite communications.

Furthermore, Al Jeel Al Jadeed, which is a subsidiary to Libya Post Telecom and Information Technology Company (LPTIC) that replaces old General Post and Telecommunications Company (GPTC), has been assigned as a distributor of Thuraya IP and Marine services which will be promoted to vertical markets in Libya. Al Jeel Al Jadeed will be focusing on targeting large corporate organisations which form the main customer base of satellite-based communications services.

"With Thuraya going more towards vertical markets, it makes a lot of sense to gear business offerings towards service models appropriate for corporate users, and the post-paid satellite handheld service is a prime example of that direction. Post-paid services ensure customers credit availability as opposed to pre-paid services whereby customers have to observe their credit limits," said Thuraya's Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Ali Al Mazrooei.

He also added that both Thuraya IP and Marine are compact and user-friendly solutions that will be rolled out rapidly through the distribution network of Al Jeel Al Jadeed.

On a similar note, Mr. Mohamed Hassan, CEO and Chairman of Al Jeel Al Jadeed said, "We are very proud to be the first to introduce post-paid services for mobile satellite handhelds to the Libyan market and facilitate voice communications for our customers. Thuraya's competitive products, IP and Marine will be met with great demand in Libya due to their advanced features and efficiency."

He elaborated that Thuraya's diverse portfolio including voice, data, maritime and tracking services meets the needs of vertical market sectors such as government, corporate and oil and gas firms.

Thuraya's handheld pre-paid services have been available in Libya since 2002 and the introduction of post-paid services is an expansion of the Company's offerings.

Thuraya IP is the world's smallest satellite broadband solution and capable of achieving streaming speeds of 384 Kbps. With Standard IP speeds of up to 444 Kbps, Thuraya IP requires no additional software for installation as it is based on a user-friendly plug and play system. A-5 sized which adds to its portability and mobility, it is the only satellite broadband solution with asymmetric streaming where customers can select upload and download speeds for high quality service cost-effectively.

Thuraya Marine is a multi-communication device offering voice, data, SMS and fax services onboard ships. The solution also provides distress calling services to organisations selected by the customer. The solution is easy-to-install and has an advanced antenna that is omni-directional and flexibly moves with the ship.

Source: AMEinfo.com

No more Arabic Translation to passports required!

The Libyan Government (General People’s Committee) has officially announced that an Arabic Translation is NO longer required for obtaining visas to Libya. All Libyan Embassies abroad have been notified by official letters.

This is another good step Libya took towards making visa process much easier. Now travellers to Libya can now submit visa application without the need to worry about it.

Furthermore, Libya recently introduced a single entry business visa which can be obtained at Airports.

SOC Libya gained the news from reliable Libyan officials.


Photo taken from Temehu website

Desert and Shore – The Libyan Water Industry Examined, event in London

British Water and Libyan British Business Council organised a half-day event called “Desert & Shore-The Libyan Water Industry Examined” which took place Friday 29th Oct 2010 at the British Water’s HQ, 1 Queen Anne’s Gate, London.
The event highlighted the business opportunities in the water sector in Libya for British companies and organisations.

The programme and speakers were as follows:-

Welcome
Lila Thompson, International Director, British Water

Introduction
Robin Lamb, Director General,
Libyan British Business Council

The Great Man Made River Authority
Dr Abdul Salam Jehawi, Member of the Committee – GMRA

Al Nahr Engineering Ltd, London
Salem El Maiar, London Office Manager, GMRA

Project Delivery, Finance is the Key
Bob Kottler, Operations Director, Biwater International

Economic and Political Overview
Oliver Miles CMG, Deputy Chairman LBBC, former British Ambassador to Libya

Mr. El Maiar & Dr. Jehawi delivered insight and detailed presentations about water sector in Libya.

Mr. Tarek Alwan, MD of SOC Libya attended the event. The current British Ambassador to Libya, Mr Richard Northern, attended the event too.

ان كنت تحب أمك فشاهد هذا المقطع Your mother

LIBYA COMES IN FROM THE COLD

This is an article about Libya Mr. Tarek Alwan & Jim Foxall (Business Advisor of SOC Libya) wrote for London Business Matters. The magazine is a part of London Chamber of Commerce. It’s being published in the October 2010 issue.

The article talks about the Libyan’s economy, oil and gas, infrastructure and training and education.

To view the full article, please go to the link below.

http://www.londonbusinessmatters.co.uk/archive/2010-10/index.html#/16

UK Trade Mission to Libya

The Middle East Association (MEA) is leading a multi-sector trade mission to Libya from 25-30 September 2010.

There are 35 British companies and organisations from different sectors going to Libya and I think it will be a great opportunity for Libyan companies, organisations, individuals and government departments to meet and explore new business venture which hopefully will make the mission a successful.

If you would like to meet with any of the companies, please contact us on info@soclibya.com, to make the necessary arrangements.

Libya’s reserve in foreign currency increased this year to 139 billion US.

The Director of the Research Department of Statistics of Central Bank of Libya, Dr. Ali Shambash announced that Libya's reserves of foreign currency rose to 139 billion dollars in 2010, from 136 billion US in last year 2009.

This is a clear indication that Libya’s economy is expanding and I am here urging British businesses to look into Libya where we can help them.

For more details please check Quryna Newspaper http://linkd.in/8XMtsV

A new Business Group on LinkedIn

We have set up a new business group on Linkedin especially to serve the great interest and demand from British and Libyan businesses to connect. We called Anglo Libya Business Group (ALBG)

In the last few years we have witnessed a great deal of British companies and organisations wishing to enter the Libyan market and we have successfully managed to get some of them into the country and we are still working on other projects.

The group is open for all to join and most importantly to contribute.

So please have a look and if you are interested, please do join.

See you there

Best Wishes for Ramadan

Joyous And Blessed Ramadan!

رمضان كريم
كل عام وأنتم بخير، أعاد الله علينا وعليكم شهر الرحمة باليمن والبركات إن شاء الله تعالى

LIBYA IV Trade and Investment Forum (London, UK)

The Middle East Association (MEA) organised ‘LIBYA IV Trade and Investment Forum’. The Conference was held in London from 9 am to 4 pm on Tuesday, 6th July 2010, at 1 Great George Street, Westminster.

The conference had the full support of UK Trade and Investment, the Tripoli Chamber of Commerce, the Libyan Businessmen’s Council, the People’s Bureau of Libya in London and the British Embassy in Tripoli.

Libya is Africa’s second largest oil producer, Europe’s single biggest supplier and a major gas producer with a huge potential to develop its economy. The country is going through a complete makeover, both politically and economically. The government is keen to diversify the economy, promote foreign investment, and redistribute wealth through private enterprise. With no foreign debt, Libya has an estimated $136bn in foreign currency reserves and is looking for places to invest.

Key decision makers from Libya and speakers from the UK gave speech in the fourth annual Libya conference and provided a political and economic overview and shared their insights on specific sectors including oil and gas, construction & infrastructure, education & training, healthcare, finance, law, telecommunications, and retail.

Some of speakers are Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, Michal Thomas (MEA), Dr. Alsedieg Alshaibi (GM of Ministry of Planning & Finance), Mr. Abdulmagid El-Mansuri (MD of ABC consultancy) and Mr. Richard Slade (Commercial Manager of Exmed) and was attended by around 175 business representatives from all sectors of the British and International business communities including a 35 strong delegation from Libya.

In the picture above from left, Mr. Osma Gnijiwa (GM of Al-Birdi Co), Mr. Omar Jelban (Libyan Ambassador to the UK), Mr. Abdulmagid El-Mansuri (MD of ABC consultancy), Mr. Tarek Alwan (MD of SOC Libya (myslf)) and Dr. Mohamed Tunmi (Owner of Tumi Law Firm).

New Britsih Company Entering Libya

Exmed UK Ltd and the Libyan private company Refaq have signed a partnership agreement to work together to serve the medical service sector for international and local Oil and Gas companies operating in Libya. The purpose of this Partnership is to bring international standard and high quality medical support and training for organisations and companies operating in Libya.

Exmed UK Ltd is an independent British provider of specialist medical support and training for companies, media, and international humanitarian organisations operating in remote and hostile environments while Refaq is a Libyan private medical service company which provides medical services to international and local oil and gas companies operating in Libya. This partnership was negotiated and facilitated by SOC Libya. SOC Libya is a London-based company founded primarily to identify, assist and support international companies entering the Libyan market.

American citizens can now easily travel to Libya

American citizens can now be granted a tourist visa at the airport without having to apply for visa at Libyan embassies or submit an application form along with the full long list of requirements.

our business partners in Libya have confirmed the new step which was taken by the Libyan government to ease the time consuming and delays in issuing visas to Libya.

Therefore, any American citizen who wishes to travel to Libya please let contact us in order to assist them to visit Libya.

Plane crash in Tripoli, Libya 'kills more than 100 on board'

Plane crashed today 12 May 2010, just minutes from landing at Tripoli International Airport

Visa ban is lifted

Libya on Saturday evening announced that a visa ban on Europeans to visit Libya is now lifted and all nationals from the 25 European countries are allowed to enter Libya after EU president Spain said a Swiss-instigated visa blacklist against 188 Libyans in those countries had been scrapped.

This is good news for businesses, I am glad it has now been sorted and all should be back to normal.

كوميدياء الشارع الليبي

كوميدياء الشارع الليبي لو تتجسد في الجانب العملي ستكون الأفضل لكن
:هـــــات من يفهم المهم أنخليكم مع هدا الإبداع


ثلاثة تدعو لهم بالهداية : البلعوط ..والمحسدي.. والخنايسي
....يكفيكم شرهم الثلاثة


ما تستغربش منهم في ليبيا : واحد قاص السريع على رجليه..... وواحد
...... يسوق في الاتجاه العكسي ..... وواحد طالع في الاحمر

ثلاثة كان مشوا تتمنى ما عادش يولوا : الفقر ..والمرض.. والبنت كان تزوجت


ثلاثة تتمنى ما تصبحش فيهم : سواق افيكو مستعجل....وطابور طويل في
الشيل.... والمدير المتعارك مع مرته


•ثلاثة صعب نتخلى عنها : الماء...والهواء...والبازين

ثلاثة محتاجات واسطة : البعثات..والشقق...وأى مصلحة إدارية تبي
تقضيها


• ثلاثة يرفعوا الضغط : الملح..وزحمة المرور..والعيل كان عشش


• ثلاثة تسبب الغرور : الفيلا... والهامر..وبدلة الحرس البلدي


ثلاثة ياكلوا في لحوم البشر: الحيوانات المفترسة....والبزناسة

. . ... الكبار ... وجماعة القرمة كان شبعوا


تلاثة لازم نتخلى عليهم : التفنيص.. والتلقيح....واللُّـقني وقت العمل



ثلاثة ما يرقدوش الليل : المديون.. والخانب.. وواحد نايضة عليه
السوسة


ثلاثة شبه اختفوا من ليبيا : الدلاع الطويل.. واحترام الشيابين
....والفراشية

ثلاثة ما تحسش بطعمتهم الا في ليبيا : امبكبة على
الحطب....وبورديم.....وشاهي العاله

ثلاثة ربي يفكك منهم : مجاري مفتوحة......وكلب مطلوق .....والرشادة
الطايشة


ثلاثة ما ليهمش معنى إلا في ليبيا : العسلوز.. والزميطة.. والعصبان



• ثلاثة لا تستخدم إلا في ليبيا : الحمّاس..والكانون..والمغرف

New SOC Libya's website

We are pleased to announce the realising of our new version of SOC Libya’s website www.soclibya.com . Please have a look and share your thoughts with us on any aspects of the website

Libyan govt plans 32 pct budget spending increase

Libya plans to increase budget spending by 32 percent to a record 58 billion dinars ($46.6 billion) this year, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

The government did not give a reason for the increase but some other energy exporting countries have been ramping up public spending to try to prevent the fall in world oil and gas prices from curbing economic growth.

Government spokesman Mohamed Bayou said the spending figure was contained in a 2010 budget law being prepared by the General People's Committee, as the government is known. Last year's budget spending was 44 billion dinars.

Bayou said the government in Libya, home to Africa's biggest proven oil reserves, continued to subsidise some consumer goods and that it was committed to continuing investment in infrastructure and public services.

"The budget for this year will be about 58 billion Libyan dinars," Bayou told Reuters after a session of the General People's Committee. "This is the biggest budget."
He also said the government would be spending 82 billion dinars ($65.86 billion) of budget funds over the next three years on development and infrastructure projects.
CASH PILE

Libya has room to manoeuvre on spending because it built up substantial reserves during several years of high oil prices.

Asked about the increase in budget spending, Sami Zaptia, an analyst with the Know Libya consultancy, said: "This is quite a big jump but really Libya has a lot of savings. It's sitting on a pile of cash."

He said the recovery of the oil price in the past few weeks to about $70 a barrel had reassured the government. "Money is coming in therefore we can afford to put our foot down and raise spending," he told Reuters.

"We need to finish ring roads, housing, the airport, to push ahead with the plan to have more tourists, be a hub for north-south travel and diversify away from oil."
Libya's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 3.37 percent in 2008 but it fell back to 1.75 percent last year, according to International Monetary Fund data. The fund forecasts 5.2 percent GDP growth in 2010.

Libya's government is in session this week to discuss implementation of decisions adopted earlier this year by the General People's Congress, or parliament.
The spokesman said the government was also preparing to issue laws, approved by parliament, on encouraging investment and organising economic activity, though he did not give specifics about what the legislation would contain.

The laws "will set out a clear, appropriate legislative framework for the diversification of the Libyan economy," said Bayou. "The target is to achieve economic stability in Libya."

Libya, which has been led since 1969 by Muammar Gaddafi, has been trying to reduce its dependence on oil and gas exports. As part of that effort it has taken steps to open up its economy to foreign investment outside the energy sector.

International energy firms including BP (BP.L) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) have invested billions of dollars in Libya. The North Africa country is also starting to attract foreign investment to its retail, construction and financial sectors.

Source: Reuters

Libya's NOC report of 2009 activities

NOC has just published a report about its activities in last year and was written in Arabic language and here is a translated version of some of the important aspects of the report.

During last year 2009 there were 64 exploratory wells onshore and offshore activities in Libya reported by Libya’s NOC and it was successful in 33 wells and the overall percentage of success was 51.5% in which resulted in 20 new oil and gas discoveries adding 2.03 billion barrels of oil and 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas to Libya’s reserves.

Libya, for the first time in the history of exploration activities in the Libyan deep water of more than 200 meters, also started an exploratory drilling in deep water.

In Seismic activities, too, there were more than of 12.784 km in length and 55.000 KM square of 2D and 3D seismic data collected on onshore and offshore, and all data recorded showed a high quality and unprecedented in the history of exploration activity in the Libya.

Source: NOC and Translated by SOC Libya

Libya approves free trade zone approved

Libya's main legislative body has approved a law setting up a free trade zone on the country's Mediterranean coast, Saadi Gaddafi, a son of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, told Reuters on Sunday.

The zone will have free movement of capital and goods, its own courts and a stock exchange, and investors there will benefit from a 10-year tax holiday, according to a copy of the law seen by Reuters.

The idea of the free trade zone has been in development for several years, and a Dubai-based property developer had said it plans to be involved, but progress has been slow.

Saadi Gaddafi, a businessman who is likely to be director of the zone's board, said the zone was needed to stimulate investment outside Libya's oil and gas sector.

"Although Libya has other sources, we still depend primarily on oil," he told Reuters in an interview. "We have to take care of industry, foreign investment, tourism and we also have to search for other sources ... anything that makes Libya depend on sources other than oil."

He said the law on the zone had been approved by his father, was backed by his brother Saif al-Islam, who is Libya's second most powerful political figure, and had also been approved by the Basic People's Congresses, Libya's main law-making body.

Under Libya's grass-roots system of government, decisions taken by the Basic People's Congresses are automatically passed into law by the General People's Congress, or parliament.

Saadi called all Libyans and Libyan businessmen who are experts to take advantage of these benefits and the new business potential and participate and contribute to the success of the programmes and projects and work together for a better future for Libya.

The main objective of establishing such a free zone for investment with its natural environment in the development of investment solutions to be able to compete with similar economic regions in the world and to be a magnet for national and foreign investments and developments as a new management model governs the legal relations between the state authorities and the region and investors by the latest world standards of excellence in the administrative, technical, productive, professional and human

Source: Reuters and SOC Libya

A new video about Libya

A new video about Libya which I made and I hope you will enjoy it as much as my other videos. The photos are all mine so you will mainly find photos from Tripoli (my home town) and Sabratha (an ancient Roman city)

The song is called Al Shamas (The Sun) and performed by the Libyan singer Ahmed Fakroun.



العراق, الكويت , ليبيا , لبنان , مصر, موريتانيا , المغرب , قطر سورية, السودان , عمان , تونس, الأردن ,السعودية , فلسطين الإمارات , الجزائر ,
اليمن , البحرين احمد فكرون، الفنان الليبي ، المغني الليبي، Libya, Benghazi, Tripoli, ليبيا, طرابلس, بنغازي , Libyan music, ليبية
Ahmed Fakroun , Libyan singer, Libyan songs, Algeria , Yemen , Bahrain , Palestine, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Egypt , Mauritania, Qatar, Syria, Sudan, Oman, Tunisia ,Saudi Arabia, Jordan , UAE, USA ,UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain

NEW OIL DISCOVERY BY TATNEFT

NOC announces Wednesday 28/1/2010 that TATNEFT being partners in an Exploration and Sharing agreement, report initial information concerning the exploration well B1-82/04 New Field Wildcat in Ghadamis Basin.

The well is located approximately 345 km South of Tripoli. The well B1-82/04, drilled in Ghadamis Basin area 82 to a total depth 8,750 feet, encountered hydrocarbons in Ouen Kasa with a net pay 11 feet. The initial production testing from Ouen Kasa established an Oil Rate of 829 bbls/d , Choke Size 32/64 (Inch), Oil Gravity 37.31 API This well represents the second discovery in area 82, which was awarded by NOC in December 2005.

TATNEFT drilled the well as an operator under an EPSA agreement with NOC with interest distributed as Follows: First Party Interest (NOC Libya) 89.5 %. Second Party Interest (TATNEFT) 10.5 % (Operator)

LIBYA: ITALIAN BUSINESSES OPTIMISTIC, CLIMATE HAS CHANGED

ROME - Seven days to prepare what perhaps was the most important mission of Italian entrepreneurs and investors to Libya: one week was the amount of time that elapsed between the official communication of the mission and the delegation's departure, after the government in Tripoli asked the Italian Foreign Ministry and Assafrica & Mediterranean (the operative branch of the Confindustria in the region) to organise a visit on January 23 of top-level business representatives from the country, ranging from giants in the infrastructure sector to small and medium enterprises. Relations between Italy and Libya, reports Assafrica, have never been so positive economically and even the issues of the credit owed to 110 Italian companies seems to have been resolved, even if the distance between what is being offered by Tripoli (450 milion euros) and the money owed to Italian businesses (650 million euros) appears far apart; a gap can be closed because now the difference is the Italian government's ''problem''.

The mission did confirm that the Libyan market is not at all impermeable for Italian companies, which are actually welcomed, and downright needed. This approval seems to mainly be focussed on SMEs, which Tripoli has pinpointed to create joint companies in key areas in the food and agriculture, tourism and training sectors.

In the food and agriculture industry Italian businesses are needed in the processing and conservation sector (the Libyan Sea is among the most abundant in fish); in tourism there is a double need for Libya: increased tourism flow from Italy and to begin investment programmes from Italian players in the industry; in the training sector Libya needs to make use of an excellent school system, which now needs to be capitalised on to prepare a new generation in the technical and management sector.

Italian companies will find a highly receptive situation ''with a climate that appears to have certainly improved since I started to go to Libya in 1998,'' said Pier Luigi D'Agata, the director general of Assafrica & Mediterraneo, who led the delegation together with the president of the Italian-Libyan joint Chamber of Commerce, Antonio De Capoa. A climate that is different and better, which D'Agata translated with one phrase: ''you can detect a new willingness'', which can be seen in the receptiveness shown by Prime Minister Baghdadi al Mahmudi, who said that he will work to eliminate obstacles when he heard about the difficulties of Italian businesspeople obtaining visas, speculating that they could be granted in the airport. All this while Libya is cracking down on visas requested by European citizens.

Source: (ANSAmed).

Libya discovered seven new oil deposits in 2009

The Libyan National Oil company (NOC) announced on Thursday that seven new oil and gas deposits were discovered in 2009 in the country.

The report on activities in the oil sector released on the internet site of NOC, stressed that the oil companies which discovered those deposits were, the Austrian company, Woodside, which discovered an oil deposit in the basin of Ghadams, about 900 km South of Tripoli and the Canadian company, Verenex which discovered a gas deposit in Ghadams.

The Algerian company, Sonatrac also announced discovery of oil deposits in the basin of Ghadams, 230 km south of Tripoli, while the Spanish company, Repsol discovered on-shore oil reserves from 40 km south-west of Benghazi, 1,050 km east of Tripoli.

Similarly, the Libyan company, Golf Arabic Petroleum, discovered oil deposit at 190 km south of Tripoli in the basin of Ghadams and the Russian company, Tatnafet discovered an oil deposit in the basin of Ghadams, 345 km south of Tripoli.

The US company, Hess, also discovered onshore oil and gas in the deep seas of the Mediterranean, 56 km north of the Libyan coasts on the Gulf of Sirte central Libya.

The NOC paper also stressed the profits in terms of technology transfer made in favour of Libya by international companies which transferred their engineering works and services to the country, which enabled the NOC to promote the competences of the local staff and to develop training in that domain.

However, the secretary of NOC managing committee, Dr Shoukri Ghanem, announced recently that Libya recorded huge revenues thanks to the revision of canvassing and sharing agreements on oil production which are estimated at US$10 billion.

He also said that his country did not intend to invite companies to tender for new blocks in 2010 because of the collapse in the gross prices and the increase in invitations to tender on the global market.

Sources say that Libya, which is the third African oil producer, after Nigeria and Angola, with reserves estimated to date at 41.5 billion barrels, intends to increase its reserves to 6.5 billion barrels in 2010, with a planned production of 2.9 million barrels per day in 2015.

Tripoli - Pana

Brighton architects get recession relief from Libya

Brighton and Hove’s architecture firms have received an unusual helping hand through the recession – from Libya.

Construction projects in the oil-rich North African state have boomed since the end of UN sanctions in 2003 and designers from the city have emerged as the favoured choice.

They have been commissioned for a string of major developments, including mosques, schools and hotels, which have kept jobs secure in Brighton and Hove as the UK economy collapsed.
The unlikely link was originally forged by LCE Architects, based in Western Road, Brighton, the firm behind Brighton’s Jubilee Library.

It has since spread to involve Camillin Denny, based in New England Street, and DRP Architects, the firm behind the refurbishment of the Birdcage Bandstand.

Nick Lomax, LCE’s managing director, said: “It started in 2002, when we had a Britishtrained Libyan architect working for us who suggested we should look into possibilities there, so we did.”

Since then growth in Libya has been rapid, with the state now able to utilise the wealth from its oil and gas resources.

In the past eight years Mr Lomax’s 55-strong practice has designed a series of buildings in Libya, including a central mosque, ten faculty buildings for the Al Fateh University in the capital Tripoli and the prototype for new schools to be built across the country.

Mr Lomax said: “There are fantastic opportunities there, some exciting work, and it has been good for our practice. We couldn’t have predicted the credit crunch would happen but now it seems it was a very good decision.”

Camillin Denny, which has recently unveiled plans for a redevelopment of Medina House on Hove seafront, has worked on a series of Libyan projects since 2006.

They include a new heritage museum and university buildings in Tripoli as well as master plans for town redevelopments and a beach resort on the Mediterranean.

Director Mark Camillin said: “It has helped us to survive the downturn. We employ 40 architects in Brighton and we’ve managed to keep going because of the work there.

“There is a strong tie between Brighton and Libya. A lot of Libyans come here to learn English and have a lasting like of the city.”

He added that while the economies of Abu Dhabi and Dubai had faltered, slowing the number of projects taking place there, Libya remained financially strong.


Source: The Argus. theargus.co.uk

Noras by Ahmed Fakroun

A new song by the great Ahmed Fakroun.



ahmed fakroun, Libya, Libyan singer, Libyan songs, tripoli, احمد فكرون، المغني الليبي، اغاني ليبية، غناء ليبي