Winning Business in Libya - a narrowing window of opportunity for business

On behalf of the City and Financial, with the support of UKTI and many organisations “SOC Libya Ltd is one of them”, we are pleased to invite you to attend of one this year largest events in the UK that will take place on 14^th May 2012 at London’s Park Hotel. (http://bit.ly/IzuX5Y)

  

The event will provide UK companies with a solid base to explore the potential of the Libyan market and will lead to support the development of the country. It will also be an excellent chance for Libyan businessmen, individuals and companies to meet with British companies in the hope of forming JVs and partnerships.

There will also be a great number of speakers who will share with you their insight and expertise on the market and best strategic market entry plans.

 The main focus of the event will be on the followings:

A Narrowing Window of Opportunity

With the Libyan elections due in June and contracts already being awarded and/or put out to tender, there is a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity for British companies to win business. This point was underscored by Raouf Ghali, Group President, Hill International when he said: “There are major opportunities from now until September …. Anyone who wants to be in Libya should be there now. Once the newly elected Government comes in the speed at which companies will be expected to go forward will be a very fast pace”

Finding Local Partners

If, as is expected, the existing Libyan rules for joint ventures which require 75% of employees to be local are maintained, then British businesses must be effective in knowing who they need to develop relations with, as well as knowing which contracts can be won.

An A-Z to Winning Business

Winning Business in Libya - A Practical Guide for UK Companies is designed to be both practical and highly focused on advising British companies about how they can position themselves so that they are well placed to win the contracts that will begin to be tendered after the election. The programme will offer a “what you need to know A-Z”.

The Political and Security Outlook

Although there are great opportunities in Libya it would be a mistake not to recognise that the political and security outlook for the country remains uncertain and that a number of factors will impact upon the Libyan business environment. These will be addressed by examining the current political environment and hotspots such as security considerations

and corruption risks.

The Conference in brief

• Finding and connecting with business partners in Libya

• Accessing trade finance for your export activity

• Key sectors and probable contracts within the sector

• Who you need to know in order to position yourself for the tender process

• How procurement will work (and how it will be different from the Gaddafi era)

• Understanding the emerging business and political context

• Workshops

o Oil & Gas

o Transport Infrastructure

o Health

o Education & Training

If you wish to attend kindly find the link below.

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

For further information please do not hesitate to contact the organisers directly as below

Nick Noakes

Marketing Director

City & Financial

8 Westminster Court

Hipley St

Old Woking

GU22 9LG

UK

T +44 (0) 1483 720707

F +44 (0) 1483 740401

E: NNoakes@CityandFinancial.com

W www.cityandfinancial.com

 Or

Virva Piippo

Conference Manager

City & Financial Ltd

Direct line: +44 (0) 1483 746 980

Email: vpiippo@cityandfinancial.com

I sincerely look forward to meeting you in person to further discuss any projects.

 Yours Sincerely,

Tarek Alwan

Managing Director

SOC Libya Ltd

T: 0208 9878450

M: 07774013043

E: info@soclibya.com

E: tarek@soclibya.com

The Libyan Uprising and Foreign Contractors: Resorting to Force Majeure under Libyan Law

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After decades of oppression and injustice, the Libyans, after many attempts, were finally successful in their elimination of the Qaddafi regime.  Peaceful demonstrations initiated by the Libyan people morphed into armed conflict due to the irresponsible and brutal acts of the regime. As a result of the destruction that was launched by the Qaddafi regime against its own people, normal life during the period ended. Business establishments closed and expatriate workers fled.  After eight months of bloody battles and the loss of tens of thousands of lives, the National Transitional Council declared the liberation of Libya from the Qaddafi regime on 23 October 2011.

At a time when Libyans are eagerly gearing up to rebuild their country, international contractors are checking their records and calculating their losses during the Libyan revolution. Although these claims have a legitimate place in commerce, it is unfortunate at this particular time of rebirth, Libyans are left to deal with the uneven commercial legacy of the old regime.  Yet, this is the insistent nature of commerce.  Further, as a Libyan, I would say that everything sacrificed by the Libyan people, whether in lives or money, was worth the result of getting rid Qaddafi and his henchmen and creating a more representative entity in the commercial sector.  Therefore, we Libyans look forward to building a more responsible relationship with the previous or new contractors in our new Libya.

In this article, we shall attempt to shed some light on the possibilities of settling claims between international contractors and Libya.

Did the Libyan Revolution Trigger an Event of Force Majeure?

To claim an event of force majeure, in general a party to a contract must find a degree of difficulty in discharging his obligations.  There is no doubt that the Libyan revolution is an obvious example of a clear case of force majeure.  Note that it was impossible for the average individual to live a normal life.  Government offices, especially in the eastern part of the country, closed their doors and communication with those offices was impossible.

As a result of the revolution, the expatriate work force fled to neighboring countries and materials became scarce as a result of the state of war. Therefore, it became impossible for international contractors to continue performing their obligations under the contracts.

Simply stated, all acts by the Qaddafi regime triggered an event of force majeure that justified the non-performance of the international contractors’ obligations under their contracts.

Contracts Signed with the Libyan Government

Article No. 147 of the Libyan Civil Code states that a contract that is signed and is enforceable among the parties shall be the first source of law in any conflict resolution process. Therefore, the terms and conditions set out in the contract will govern the relationship between the parties.

An examination of the terms of the signed contract is the first step in deciding the obligations and rights of the international contractor.  The assumption here is that all contracts which were valid during the Libyan revolution contained a force majeure clause.

Under the Libyan Civil Code

There is no need to dwell in detail on all points of Libyan law related to force majeure, as the Libyan Civil Code recognizes the option of non-performance of an obligation based on the circumstances of force majeure.

Therefore in the case of the Libyan conflict, an international contractor is fully justified not to perform its duties under the Libyan Civil Code.  I reiterate that this is due to the fact that the upheaval caused by the revolution was a direct result of the Qaddafi regime’s decision to use excessive force against peaceful demonstrators.

Under Bilateral Investment Treaties

As of 1 June2011, Libya had entered into 33 bilateral investment agreements with various countries such as Italy, Austria, Morocco, Croatia, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France.  The aim of these treaties is to provide certain guarantees, as stated in each treaty, to investors of both parties to the treaty. It also allows investors from both parties to the treaty to bring claims against the other in international arbitration.

Each investment treaty is tailored, however, and all of them guarantee that in matters relating to the treatment of investments, the investors of each contracting party shall enjoy national treatment and most-favored-nation treatment in the territory of the other party.

It also requires that each contracting party undertake not to adopt any measure of expropriation or nationalization or any other measure having the effect of directly or indirectly dispossessing the investors of the other contracting party of their investments within its territory.

Most importantly, an investment treaty restricts the acts of a contracting party from taking any action to deprive and limit the ownership of investors from the other contracting party.  For example, the treaty signed between Libya and the Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union states:

“Investors of one Contracting Party whose investments suffer losses owing to war or other armed conflict, revolution, a state of national emergency or revolt in the territory of the other Contracting Party shall be granted by the latter Contracting Party a treatment, as regards restitution, indemnification, compensation or other settlement, at least equal to that which the latter Contracting Party grants to the investors of the most favoured nation.”

In summary, it is clear that the Qaddafi regime triggered the violent acts that rendered normal life impossible in Libya.  This forced international contractors to cease their performance under contracts signed with the Libyan government.  Therefore, international contractors are entitled to claim force majeure as a defense of non-performance.

International contractors may claim compensation due to the fact that the Qaddafi regime was responsible for the force majeure event.  The claim may be granted based on: (i) the contract signed between the Libyan government and the international contractor; (ii) the Libyan Civil Code; and if applicable (iii) a bilateral investment treaty signed between Libya and the country of the international contractor.

This, of course, is only a general guide for seeking compensation as a result of the Libyan conflict.

Source: Libya Herald