Thursday 9 December 2010

Libya agrees on package of new projects to launch next five-year investment programme

In a major boost for foreign participants and newcomers, it was announced at the beginning of December that a committee - comprising planners from a variety of ministries – have agreed on a package of new projects with which to launch the next five-year investment programme beginning in 2011.

This will serve two purposes:

Firstly, it will inject new additional finance into the stalled current programmes and bring about new opportunities for foreign companies in Libya

Secondly, it has revealed that the single most inhibiting factor in the last two years of the development programme has been insufficient funds in the right place to pay the foreign participants – and indeed domestic suppliers. This has created discontinuity and even a complete cessation of activity in those projects affected by non-payment.

The new funding, said to total LD250 billion ($200 billion), will be a very substantial fillip to the economy if also accompanied by a serious drive to make due payments for work already in progress.

A further consideration which affects the private sector as a whole is the tedious approval method which demands project review by three senior vetting committees. Integrated planning in Libya does not necessarily mean close liaison between state agencies, and there is constant slippage in management as inputs become available at random times or not at all.

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

No comments:

Post a Comment