Shareholding at the EBRD completed

Lebanon has become a shareholder of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

This will allow it to become a recipient of the bank’s investments and advisory services.

President Suma Chakrabarti, said: “We expect that by early September, it will be a full country of operations.”

The country can benefit from direct investments in loans and equities, and the technical support the Bank can provide it with.

Chakrabarti said: “Lebanon has massive transition challenges, but I am sure that EBRD’s business model, skills, and resources will really be applied to such entities as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the energy sector, and the refugee dimension.”

Authorities said the Bank’s support would play an important role in developing sustainable economic growth by strengthening key sectors of the economy and contributing to reforms.

Memebrship was applied for in July 2015. Other member countries in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) include Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia.

To date, the Bank has invested some €5.2 billion ($6 billion) in 130 projects across the SEMED region in natural resources, financial institutions, agribusiness, manufacturing and services, and such infrastructure projects as power, municipal water and wastewater, and upgrading transport services.