World Bank loan for five historic cities

Cultural Heritage
Project extended till 2017

Parliament approved a loan agreement with the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for $27 million.

The loan will finance the implementation of the Cultural Heritage and Urban Development Project (CHUD). The project covers five historic cities: Tyr (Sour), Baalbek, Tripoli, Byblos, and Saida. The project was launched in 2009. It has been extended until 2017.

The World Bank said that additional financing for the CHUD project will create the conditions for local economic development and enhanced quality of life in the historic centers of five main secondary cities. It also aims at improving the conservation and management of built cultural heritage.

The additional loan will help finance the cost over-run of works originally planned under the project, including the delivery of improved public spaces, street upgrading, historical facade restorations, building rehabilitation, and related activities.

CHUD is implemented in collaboration with the French Agency for Development (AFD), which is allocating $30 million for the project.