Libyan expats cast votes in historic poll

The first votes in Libya’s elections were cast in Dubai on Tuesday as expatriates turned out to select a national assembly less than a year after the collapse of the Gaddafi regime.

The polling station in the Libyan consulate in Dubai opened at 9am local time with other locations in Jordan, Germany, the UK, the US and Canada scheduled to open their doors every day until July 7, when the elections are set to be held in Libya itself.

Burhaneddin Muntasser, regional manager for an Swiss-based IT company who lived through the war in Tripoli, was overcome with emotion after casting his vote.

“I want a Muslim country, with a free economy, where the Libyan citizens come first,” said the 48-year-old, tears streaming down his face. “I am hopeful of a good future for Libya, but I am not 100 per cent confident.”

The 200-member national assembly will select a prime minister, draft laws and appoint a committee to write a new constitution.

A steady stream from the 3,000 Libyan residents of the United Arab Emirates were ushered through an air-conditioned tent at the consulate for their first elections in half a century, leaving with a purple ink print on their index fingers to prove they had already voted.

Aref al-Nayed, the outgoing Libyan ambassador to the UAE, said the historic day was imbued with a sense of “sad joy.”

“There is joy at reaching this stage in the long struggle of the Libyan people, but sadness from the great sacrifices of the people who made this possible,” he said.

Mr Nayed, who will return to the private sector after representing Libya in the UAE since the revolution that overthrew Colonel Muammer al-Gaddafi last autumn, said he was optimistic that the elections would install a representative government and produce a constitution reflecting the desires of all Libyans.

Fears have grown that the elections could be affected by outbreaks of violence as armed militias that helped ousted the former regime compete for power.

On Sunday, armed groups demanding more autonomy for the east burned election materials and damaged computers in the eastern capital of Benghazi. But Mr Nayed said the following day the people of Benghazi had taken to the streets to pledge their support for the electoral process.

“This is a self correcting revolution, I am always assured by the ability of the Libyan people to protect and correct the situation,” he said.

Awwab Abdul, a 23-year-old oil trader, was born in the US and lived in Dubai for 13 years, but, despite only living briefly in Libya, he was one of the first to turn out to vote at 9am.

“Over the next year, Libya will emerge as a special new capital of the world,” he said. “For us, freedom is the most important thing.”

Source: Financial Times

UK Companies Poised For Libya Work

British companies are gearing up to compete for billions of pounds worth of contracts in Libya as the oil-rich nation presses ahead with plans to restore its tattered infrastructure, including gas, housing, transport and utilities.

Ahead of elections for the new government expected to be held in June, businesses, officials and advisers are converging on London on Monday for a one-day conference on how companies can best position themselves to win a series of lucrative tenders expected to be awarded over the next few years, according to the Financial Times. 

Much of Libya’s infrastructure is in a dire state, with transport, banking, telecommunications, power generation, education, water and sewerage systems in poor condition even by regional standards. Although its oil extraction infrastructure is considered the jewel of its industrial base, its refineries are widely regarded as outmoded and in need of upgrading.

But Libya is also wealthy. Oil income exceeded $12bn in the first quarter of this year, according to official government figures, making reconstruction plans viable. UK Trade and Investment, which promotes British commercial interests abroad and is backing the conference, has estimated that the rebuilding of Libya could be worth $126bn over the next decade.

This conference was oraginsed by City and Financial and supported by many company and SOC Libya Ltd was one of them and its managing director Tarek Alwan was among the speakers.

For more information about the event please see below

http://www.cityandfinancial.com/conference/rebuilding_libya_2_discounted

Source: Financial Times and SOC Libya

www.soclibya.com  

British Airways back in Tripoli

BA back to Libya 

The first British Airways flight since the revolution began last year flew from London to Tripoli today, Tuesday.  As of today, the airline is operating three flights a week between Tripoli and London — on Tuesdays Thursday and Sundays.

“We are extremely pleased to be returning to this ket North African market and we anticipate strong demand as companies return to Libya,” said Sarah Cain, British Airways; North Africa Commercial Manager in a press statement.

“We will have daily flights as of 24 October if demand picks up,” said Andrew Hammans, BA’s Africa Commercial Development Manager who was in Tripoli for the launch of the route.

The Airbus 320 that flew in to Tripoli carried just 32 passengers out of a possible total of 42 seats being sold. That was due to fuel and weight restrictions.  For the moment BA are not refuelling in Tripoli because of fuel certification issues and aircraft are having to return to London with a sufficient fuel payload for the flight.

In any event, Hammans noted, “it takes six months” to build up a route.  BA had just had two months preparing for today’s launch.  However, there were a large numbers of forward bookings, he said, in particular from the US and Canada. They were “massive” he said.

Hammans pointed out that there would be no more BMI flights between London and Tripoli. BA had now bought out BMI and was fully incorporating it into its own services.

SOURCE: Libya Herald 

London reaffirms commitment to Libya

A visit to Tripoli will give the British government the   opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to an emerging Libyan government, a British official said. British Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt arrived in Tripoli Tuesday. He said he would formalize a British Embassy office in the former rebel capital Benghazi and open a visa application center in Tripoli during his two-day visit to Libya.

"I am delighted to return to Libya at a key stage in its  transition as the Libyan people prepare for their first  democratic elections in over 40 years," he said in a statement. "I look forward to reaffirming the U.K.'s commitment to Libya."

The British military was part of the NATO-led intervention in Libya last year meant to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi. Since Gadhafi's death in October, the new interim government has set the stage for national elections but dealt with internal clashes and autonomy bids.

British lawmakers are investigating their country's alleged involvement in so-called extraordinary renditions of Libyan nationals.

Burt's visit coincides with an international oil and natural gas investment conference in Tripoli.

Source: UPI 

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).

LandSecs sells an Oxford Street’s block to Libya

Britain's biggest property company, Land Securities, has sold its Portman House retail and office building on London's Oxford Street to a Libyan state-backed investor for 155 million pounds ($254.8 million).

The multi-let 146,550 square foot (13,615 square metre) building in the heart of the West End shopping district has been bought by Kinloss Property Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Libyan Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO).

The asset generates a total rent of 11.5 million pounds a year and is held on a long lease from The Portman Estate on a term expiring in 2152.The purchase price reflects an annual income yield of just over 7 percent.

The acquisition of Portman House comes about six months after the Libyan Investment Authority agreed to buy a 172,000 square foot office building in London's City financial district for 120 million pounds.

I personally think it’s a good opportunity for Libya’s LAFICO to invest some of its money into property in London and especially at the heart of Oxford Street.
The building (If you do not know) is located at the corner of Oxford Street and Portman Street, just in front of Next and Primark. There are several retails shops belong to the building such as New Look, Boots, River Island etc.

(Reuters & SOC Libya)

Photos taken by Tarek Alwan, on 03/07/2009

NOC signs agreements with the Total, Wintershall and Statoil.

With its new policies towards renegotiating and extending old agreements, Libya’s NOC has always been attempting to increase its shares and implant new terms and conditions which will make it, increase its shares dramatically.

On Thursday 21/05/2009, the National Oil Corporation signed an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement with French Total and its partners (German Wintershall and Norwegian Statoil) in Tripoli.

The Agreement was signed by Dr.Shokri Mohamed Ghanem, NOC Chairman and Mr. Christophe de Margerie, Chairman and CEO, and chairwoman of Statoil accompanied by Representatives from Wintershall.

The event was also attended by Mr. Ali Saleh NOC's General Manager and NOC management Committee members.

In terms of oil production the new agreement means Total’s shares will be reduced to 27% and the rest belongs to NOC, whereas the old agreement was 50% each.
On the gas side Total’s shares will be 40% then decreases to 30% instead of 50% from the old agreement.

Furthermore, Total has been active in Libya for a long time and Total has a 75% working interest of the Second Party share in each block, with StatoilHydro holding the remaining 25% of Block C17 and Wintershall the remaining 25% of Block C137.
In addition to production from the offshore Al Jurf field in Block C137 and from the Mabruk field in Block C17 in the Sirte Basin, Total operates a number of other exploration licenses in Libya.

On the other hand, Wintershall has had a local exploration and production presence in Libya since 1958. The largest reservoir from which it produces is the As Sarah oil field near the Jakhira oasis in Libya, where it also operates the country’s only facility that conditions associated gas from its fields and transports the resulting products, gas and condensate, for sale on the coast. In addition, Wintershall was awarded in 2006 another exploration area in south-eastern Libya, covering over 11,000 square kilometers.

StatoilHydro on the mean time, operates three exploration licences in Libya totalling over 23,000 square kilometres.

Source: NOC, Sahra Oil Consultancy, Total, Wintershall and Statoil