Sept 5: Get cash: Financing accounts receivable is the topic of the workshop organized by InfoPro Business Development Services
Sept 1: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition has listed the top 100 publicly traded Arab companies in its September issue
Sept 1: Online advertising is the cover story in this month's issue of Lebanon Oppotunities
Aug 28: Ramzi El Hafez was a speaker in the International Economic Forum held on August 28 in Tripoli organzied by the Azm and Saade organization
August 2: properties.com.lb is now online. It is a comprehensive real estate service for buyers and sellers of real estate. It includes residential, commercial, and land properties, buying tips, and reference material on the real estate market
August 1: A country report on Lebanon is the cover story of BusinessWeek – Arabic edition
August 1: Check out the Real Estate Guide in the August issue of Lebanon Opportunities
July 31: More than 150 people attended the lunch organized by Lebanon Opportunities today in honor of their excellencies Dr. Sami Haddad and Dr. Jihad Azour. The Prime Minister Fouad Saniora was represented by the Minister of Finance H.E. Dr. Mohamad Chatah. The Minister of Economy and Trade H.E. Mohamad Safadi and H.E. Raymond Audi Minister of the Displaced were also present. All heads of the economic asoociations as well as many business leaders attended the lunch. A lampoon film entitled: "What they said and what we heard" was produced for this occasion. Click here for summaries of words exchanged during the ceremony.
July 21: Lebanon Opportunities is hosting a lunch honoring H.E. Dr. Jihad Azour and H.E. Dr. Sami Haddad, for their services during their ministerial tenure, on July 31 at Le Bristol Hotel. Leading members of the private sector have been invited to this event
July 17: Ramzi El Hafez will be the guest of Sabine Oueiss on Future News TV program Kalam bil Arkam airing on Friday July 18 at 9:00 pm. The program will be rerun on Saturday July 19 at 12:00 pm. Click here to watch the interview.
July 10: InfoPro has been instrumental in a fund raising effort to secure financing for a project by the Indian Battalion with UNIFIL in South Lebanon to provide artificial limbs to victims of land mines and to treat polio patients. InfoPro has contributed and helped raise more than one third of the required funds. A camp of Indian Doctors is scheduled during the week of July 14, and will be conducted over a period of ten days. The project will provide 100 artificial limbs and 100 polio calipers. In the name of its entire team, InfoPro is committed to the community at large and will extend to the maximum of its resources financial and in-kind assistance.
July 8: Bikini wins recognition. The June 2007 editorial 'Bikini or Veil', by the editor-in-chief of Lebanon Opportunities has been recognized as one of the top 7 editorial entries of B2B magazines around the world by the Trade, Associations, Business Publications International (TABPI), the international association of B-2-B publications. The 2008 Tabbies featured more than 700 entries, with nominations coming from the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, France, Ireland, Lebanon, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. The Tabbies recognizes excellence in trade, association, and business publications.
July 3: Easy Insurance 2008 is being distributed to all subscribers of Lebanon Opportunities and is now available in the market
July 2: In the July issue of BusinessWeek - Arabic edition the cover story is focused on: 'Oil and the Economy', giving multiple perspectives on the issue and in-depth analysis of a number of sectors
July 2: Is the hospitality sector on the rebound - for good? Lebanon Opportunities explores this question in its July issue
June 26: In parallel to the Business Opportunities in Lebanon conference, a financial matching activity brought together a dozen companies with around 30 lenders and equity finance professionals. The opportunities included projects in hospitality, information technologies, services, and others. This is the fourth year that Lebanon Opportunities organizes such matchmaking activities. This year, the matchmaking event was prepared with InfoPro BDS, the newly established financial consultancy division.
June 25: More than 1,000 people attended the two day Business Opportunities in Lebanon conference on June 24-25. Finance Minister Jihad Azour represented the Prime Minister at the inaugural ceremony. More than 60 speakers, panelists, and moderators participated in the event, in addition to a number of companies who participated in the accompagnying exhibition.
June 1: The large demand on labor in the Arab Gulf countries is the cover story of the June issue of BusinessWeek - Arabic edition
June 1: Lebanon Opportunities focused on Success in its June issue. Dozens of companies that defied the odds since 2005 are profiled.
May 22: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition was invited to deliver the opening address of the Annual meeting of the International Association of Department Stores, an international representative bodies that includes many of the international stores. Ramzi El Hafez, publisher of the magazine, addressed the conference today in Dubai.
May 20: More than 500 CVs for professionals in Lebanon have been posted on www.jobs.com.lb and more than 100 job vacancies have been published since the official launch of the site. More than 10,000 people visited the site in the past two months.
May 19:
The annual conference
May 12: InfoPro reopens its offices after several days of closure due to the fighting inside Beirut.
May 1: The cover of BusinessWeek - Arabic edition focuses on a story on a 2015 vision of the GCC development.
May 1: The Minimum Wage will surely rise is the cover story of Lebanon Opportunities.
April 24: A successful workshop How to get financing for contractors and sub-contractors was conducted by InfoPro Business Development Services on April 23-24. More than 20 participants attended.
April 14: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition is a participant at the State of the Region conference, on April 14, organized by the Dubai School of Government. BWA's editor-in-chief Ramzi El Hafez is a guest panelist at the conference that is attended by more than 100 of the UAE's business CEOs and government officials. BWA is also participating at the Middle East Asia Leadership Conference in Dubai, organized by BusinessWeek, on April 15-16.
April 2: Costs are going up -- so is the cover price and subscription of Lebanon Opportunities and BusinessWeek - Arabic edition. The cover price is now LL7,000 and subscriptions inside Lebanon, including delivery charges, are now $50.
April 2: In the April issue of BusinessWeek - Arabic edition, the successes and challenges of failures of Dubai are uncovered. This is the first time that a regional publication delves in detail in the woes that Dubai is facing.
April 2: Lebanon Opportunities cover story for April is focused on the market of luxury cars. Also included in the issue is the ranking of top banks according to a number of criteria.
March 25: Infopro BDS is conducting a new training workshop: 'How to Get Financing for Contractors and Sub-Contractors' on April 23-24 at Le Bristol Hotel. To register click on http://www.bds.infopro.com.lb
March 20: Easy Banking 2008 is now available in the market. All subscribers to Lebanon Opportunities will receive a free copy
March 7: Lebanon Opportunities has concluded an agreement with Cedar Wings, the in-flight magazine of Middle East Airlines. Each issue of Cedar Wings will include an article from Lebanon Opportunities, specifically edited for that purpose.
March 5-6: InfoPro Business Development Services conducted a very successful training session on Financing Real Estate Projects. The course, originally planned for 20 people, was actually attended by more than double that number. An encore is in order!
March 1: In the March issue of BusinessWeek - Arabic edition read how multinational corporations integrate and blend the work of multiple nationalities across the continents
March 1: An in-depth investigation of the personal and corporate income tax collections is the cover feature of the March issue of Lebanon Opportunities.
Feb 23: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition was omnipresent at the Jeddah Economic Forum. The Februray issue of the magazine was made available to all conference attendees on the booth of the Saudi Research and Publishing Co. More than 700 issues were picked up by conference attendees.
Feb 18: Financing real estate projects is the title of the new training course offered by the Business Development Services unit of InfoPro. The course will be conducted on March 5-6 starting at 4:00 pm at Le Bristol Hotel. For details, please go to: http://www.bds.infopro.com.lb
Feb 3: In its latest issue, Hadith elMalia, the official newsletter of the Ministry of Finance, published a report on InfoPro's 'Citizen Satisfaction Survey' it conducted for the Ministry.
Feb 1: Read in BusinessWeek-Arabic edition on why the West is afraid of Middle Eastern money. Also worth reading is the cover story on Schlumberger and how it is defying Big Oil
Feb 1: 'How to build your home' is the cover story in Lebanon Opportunities this month
Jan 10: News you can use is the theme of the Lebanon Opportunities billboard campaign that will start next week with 700 locations for a week, to be followed by a 250 location reminder campaign early February. Check it out on your way into work on Monday!
Jan 3: In response to high demand of its How to Get Financing workshop first organized in December 2007, InfoPro - Business Development Services is running the course again on January 23-24 at the Bristol Hotel
Jan 2: BusinessWeek-Arabic edition looks at the Arab and international investment landscape for the year to come
Jan 2: A special section on "Where to Invest" is included in the January issue of Lebanon Opportunities
Dec 26: Ramzi El Hafez will be the guest of the economic talk show (Al Iktissad bil-Arkam) on Friday Dec 28 at 9 pm with Sabine Oueiss on Future News TV
Dec 17: InfoPro offices will be closed on Wednesday Dec 19, Monday and Tuesday Dec 24-25 and Monday and Tuesday Dec 31-Jan 1st for the holidays. Happy Adha, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Dec 14: InfoPro Research was commissioned by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to undertake a study on the supply and demand of labor in Lebanon
Dec 14: InfoPro BDS signed its first mandate for the financing of a real estate project in Beirut.
Dec 14: InfoPro BDS has concluded its first training workshop: "How to get financing". The session had full attendance, and several of the attendees announced their intention to pursue financing opportunities with the presenting firms.
December 2: InfoPro announces the launch of a new division Business Development Services. This division will focus on matchmaking SMEs with financial institutions and investors. It will also conduct management and finance courses. InfoPro BDS will conduct its first course: How to get financing on December 12-13 at the Bristol Hotel. For details, please go to: http://www.bds.infopro.com.lb
December 1: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition is out with a new look, adapted from the makeover of its international parent edition. Cover story: Asian cars race to overtake sales of European and US made automobiles in the Middle East.
December 1: Lebanon Opportunities analyses recent increases in prices of the property market. Also includes: 2008 car models and prices
Nov 5: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition was ranked as first or second magazine in penetration amongst business readers in most GCC countries according to a survey undertaken by Ipsos Stat.
Nov 5: Lebanon Opportunities was ranked as the number one magazine in Lebanon by business readers in a survey undertaken by Ipsos Stat.
Nov 1: Lebanon Opportunities includes a special feature on special products and services for Men.
Nov 1: The business of luxury watches in the Gulf is the cover story of BusinessWeek - Arabic edition this month.
October 29: The Rotary Club - Baabda hosted Ramzi El Hafez for a presentation on Business Opportunities in Lebanon. This was followed by a questions and answers period.
October 13 Ramzi El Hafez was the guest of Said Ghorayeb on NBN. For 90 minutes, the interview focused on the general health of the economy and the effect of politics, minimum wage, unemployment and emigration, privatization, reform, and topics concerning the private sector.
October 2: jobs.com.lb makes its debut. This job matching website is focused on Lebanon and has unique features. Job seekers and employers are connected directly by this website. The website was developed by InfoPro and is managed by it.
October 1: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition features a special article on real estate in the Gulf and takes a closer look at the private equity business in the region.
October 1: The Lebanon Opportunities promotion continues for new subscribers: Subscribe in September and get a free copy of Easy Banking 2007
October 1: Lebanon Opportunities takes a closer look at the telecom privatization process and includes a full salary scale for the banking industry
September 12: All presentations delivered at the Business Opportunities in Lebanon conference are now available on the event website.
September 11-13: The daily press has widely covered the Business Opportunities in Lebanon conference with major features in the economic pages of Al-Mustakbal, An Nahar [Tuesday-Wednesday], As Safir, Al Balad, L'Orient-Le Jour [Tuesday - Thursday], The Daily Star, and other publications.
September 11: More than 500 people attended the second day of the Business Opportunities in Lebanon conference. Eight workshops were organized around the themes of Telecom, WTO, labor, human resouces, expansionabroad, franchising, real estate, and financing. Matchmaking sessions between projects and financiers also take place for the second consecutive day. The sessions which started at 5 pm continued until around 8:30 pm
September 10: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora inaugurated the Business in Lebanon conference organized by Lebanon Opportunities with a one-hour session that included a live telecast retransmited by TeleLiban followed by Minister of Finance Jihad Azour, the country manager of The World Bank, Demba Ba and the country manager of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The first day closed with a lively wrap up session with economists Kamal Hamdan, Samir Nasr, Makram Sader, and Louis Hobeika, with the participation of journalists Sabine Ouseiss and Osama Habib. The conference started at 5 pm and the deliberations end at 9 pm. Parallel to the conference, Lebanon Opportunities organized matchmaking sessions between projects seeking finance and equity and debt financiers. Around 20 projects have been scheduled to present over the two days of the conference.
September 8-11: Several press ads have been published in An Nahar, Al Balad, The Daily Star, and L'Orient-Le Jour for the Business Opportunities in Lebanon conference.
September 5: Four corporate sponsors have announced their backing of the Business Opportunities in Lebanon conference: AXA, Octagon, Lebanese Canadian Bank, and Ghalayini for Trade and Turnkey. FFA Private Bank has also sponsored the Investment Matching sessions of the conference. The conference also received the support of the following organizations: USAID, AMIDEAST, IFC, ELCIM, Berytech, the Lebanese Franchise Association, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
September 3: Lebanon Opportunities has announced a promotion for new subscribers: Subscribe in September and get a free copy of Easy Banking 2007
September 3: Business Opportunities in Lebanon - Year V: 10,000 invitations have been mailed for the upcoming annual conference of Lebanon Opportunities and an email campaign is under way. More than 50 speakers, panelists, and moderators have confirmed their presence.
September 2: In BusinessWeek - Arabic edition, a close look at the telecom sector both in the Arab World and internationally. Also included: features on foreign banks, arab airlines, and the success of moslems in the United States.
September 2: Lebanon Opportunities is focusing on export of coffee, planning business events, and jobs in the insurance sector.
August 2: In the August issue of BusinessWeek - Arabic edition: The emergence of Arab dot.com companies
August 2: A complete buyer's guide for residential is included in the August issue of Lebanon Opportunities covering the Greater Beirut area
August 1: Lebanon Opportunities announced its fifth annual conference: Business Opportunities in Lebanon. The event includes more than 15 workshops with 50+ speakers, a trade show, and matchmaking between financiers and companies and projects looking for equity and debt financing. The conference will take place on September 10-11 at the Dbayeh Convention Center.
WORKSHOPS
The conference will be focused on issues of economic recovery and opportunities in a variety of sectors including telecom, franchising, foreign expansion, real estate, financing, insurance, WTO, labor, and other issues.
PARTICIPANTS
Like every year, more than one thousand policy and business decision makers from the public and private sectors are expected to attend. More than 50 high-profile speakers will take part in more than 15 special workshops organized specially for this event.
EVENT PROMOTION
The conference will be widely publicized through press advertising, emails, and personal invitations. A trade show will be held in parallel, featuring growing companies seeking or presenting opportunities. Special matchmaking sessions between financiers and companies and projects seeking finance will be organized within the framework of this conference.
CONFERENCE ISSUE OF LEBANON OPPORTUNITIES
In its issue published in September, Lebanon Opportunities will dedicate a special ‘Business Opportunities in Lebanon’ section in prelude to the conference containing a variety of conference related topics. In addition to its regular wide circulation, this issue will be distributed to all attendees of the event, including speakers, conference participants, trade show exhibitors, and the press.
SPONSORSHIP, ADVERTISING, AND PROMOTION OPPORTUNITIES
This event present a variety of opportunities to promote brands, products and services aimed at decisions makers in the middle and upper segments. Opportunities include: Sponsorship, advertising in the magazine and program, flyer distribution, product display, booth at the event, and other create media buys.
July 2: In the July issue of BusinessWeek - Arabic edition read about the competition over human resouces between foreign banks and Islamic banks in the Gulf. See also the ranking of the top ten Islamic bank in the Arab World
July 2: In the July issue of Lebanon Opportunities: What the private sector doesn't know about WTO
June 30: The InfoPro Center for Economic Information renewed its contract until the end of 2007 to manage and develop the content of the two official websites: lebanonundersiege.gov.lb and rebuildlebanon.gov.lb thanks to funding from the TAG program by Amideast/USAID
June 22: The Ministry of Economy and Trade (MOET) and the IFC have announced that a plan to reduce 45 percent of the cost of registering a business in Lebanon. This action is a direct result of a study on business registration process undertaken by InfoPro Research together with other institutes for the benefit of IFC
June 21: The InfoPro Center for Economic Information has completed its Citizens Satisfaction study undertaken for the benefit of the Ministry of Finance. The study was partially funded by the Amideast/TAG program. Study results were presented to ministry officials. Minister of Finance H.E. Jihad Azour said: "This study will be used as a benchmark to assess future progress in reform at the ministry."
June 5: BusinessWeek – Arabic edition is looking at the top 10 destinations for investment in the hospitality sector in the Arab World
June 2: Lebanon Opportunities looks at how the economy is fighting for survival
May 30: Lebanon Opportunities has announced that it is organizing a conference on July 10-11 under the theme: Facing the Economic Challenge with the participation and collaboration of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy and Trade.
May 21-22: BusinessWeek organized 'Middle East Asian Partnership', a two day conference in Dubai under the patronnage of Sheikha Lubna Kassimi, UAE Minister of Trade. Many dignitaries participated in the conference including John Major, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister of Thailand, a large number of government and corporate officials from the Middle East and Asian countries.
May 5: BusinessWeek – Arabic edition is looking east with coverage on Shanghai, as well as an overview on the fast developing construction in Abu Dhabi.
May 5: Easy Insurance 2007 is now in the market. This classic reference has been fully updated with latest market figures on premiums and costs, as well as a complete directory.
May 2: Lebanon Opportunities new issue includes several new monthly sections including: Cover story, Jobs and salaries, and personal finance. New sections are slated to be added in the next few months.
April 5: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition included several special reports: Office Towers in the Gulf, the Business of Credit Cards, and a report on the Arab Summit.
April 2: A number of business leaders have submitted testimonials on what they think of Lebanon Opportunities. The testimonials are published in the tenth anniversary issue of the magazine.
April 2: In its anniversary issue, Lebanon Opportunities has published a special Thank You for around 1,000 companies that have trusted the magazine to carry its message.
April 2: Lebanon Opportunities has reached its tenth year. On that occasion, a special edition – and packaging – was published. The edition was dedicated to a ten-year retrospective on the Lebanese economy and various business sectors including an extensive table of indictors. The issue promises to be kept for years to come as a reference.
March 5: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition looks at the dogfight between Airbus and Boeing for market share in the Middle East
March 1: Lebanon Opportunities publishes a special section on luxury cars
February 26: First book sold on Lebanon Bookstore
February 24: BusinessWeek is covering the Jeddah Economic Forum convened this year on Feb24-27 at the Jeddah Hilton. In an interview with Saudi TV, Ramzi El Hafez said: "Reform is the grand theme of this conference... but the caution that has characterized the region must give way to speed, because the entire world is changing quickly and we don't want to be trailing much behind."
February 22:
Extensive media coverage in daily newspapers on the lunch with Governor Salameh. The event was the lead story in all economic sections.
Click for media coverage:
An Nahar, Assafir, The Daily Star, Almoustakbal, Alddiyar
February 21: Lebanon Opportunities hosted a lunch-debate with Riad Salameh, Governor of The Central Bank. More than 130 people attended the event at Crowne Plaza hotel. Governor Salameh took questions from the floor.
February 18: EasyBanking 2007 now released
February 15: Lebanon Bookstore, an online utility to search and buy books on Lebanon has been announced in beta testing. The bookstore has been developed using Amazon.com tools. The bookstore can be accessed from InfoPro's various websites including opportunities.com.lb and databank.com.lb.
February 5: BusinessWeek - Arabic edition has Retail Banking in the GCC as its February cover story.
February 1: Lebanon Opportunities publishes an exclusive interview with the Governor of the Central Bank on the economic implication of the Paris III conference. A lunch-debate will follow on Feb 21.
January 28: Ramzi El Hafez, the publisher of Lebanon Opportunities, has been hosted by Sabine Oueiss on Future TV Iktissaduna Wal Alam.
January 26: Ramzi El Hafez, the publisher of Lebanon Opportunities, has been hosted by the French Senat television station on a special program on Lebanon.
January 25: Lebanon Opportunities covers direct from Paris the conference on aid on Lebanon.
January 23: InfoPro is open for work as usual despite call for general strike.
January 22: Ramzi El Hafez is elected on the board of directors of the Lebanese BusinessMen Association (Rassemblement des dirigeants and chefs d'entreprises Libanais - RDCL).
January 19: InfoPro Research starts deploying Banktrak 2007. The first delivery batch is on the Beirut region to be followed by other regions.
January 18: The World Bank selects InfoPro Research to undertake a study on Women Entrepreneurship in Lebanon's Formal Private Sector: A Gender Focused Investment Climate Assessment (ICA).
January 11: www.opportunities.com.lb is now offering RSS feed.
January 08: The new editorial plan for Lebanon Opportunities has been announced. The new plan includes many new features sections and entails a total revamping of Lebanon Opportunities.
January 05: BusinessWeek (Arabic Edition) has published a special edition on "Best Investments in 2007"
January 05: Ramzi El Hafez, the company's general manager, has been hosted by Marcel Ghanem together with H.E. Minister Jihad Azour for a three-hours talk show on LBC's Kalam Al Nass.
January 04: All information related to the Paris III Conference will be published instantaneously on rebuildlebanon.gov.lb.
January 03: The Arabic version of RebuildLebanon.gov.lb is now available online. This version is a replica of the English-language version but also contains specific information available solely in the Arabic language.
January 02: Lebanon Opportunities has just published its latest issue with the "I love Life" campaign on its cover.
December 24: BusinessWeek unveils its editorial plan for 2007.
December 1: Rebuildlebanon.gov.lb is the official website for economic recovery in Lebanon. All news, papers, and information on all human, material, and economic reconstruction are published on this site. The site has passed its beta testing and is now online.
November 27: BusinessWeek participates in the Media & Marketing show in Dubai. The show includes all major media in the Levant and GCC countries.
November 8: Economic Impact of the War in Lebanon: New study published by the InfoPro Center for Economic Information under a grant from USAID. The study was undertaken to assess the direct and indirect economic consequence of the July 2006 War on Lebanon and what are the measures that various sectors are seeking to implement. The study includes several field surveys undertaken by InfoPro to measure the impact on employment, cash flows for business, and other impact elements.
November 9-10: Back in Business Conference: To celebrate the return of Lebanon Opportunities, and in parallel with the beginning of the country's economic recovery, a conference was organized by InfoPro. The Conference spanned over two days with more than 45 speakers and 700 participants. The conference had a grand finale at the Grand Serail with an address by Prime Minister Saniora, who also hosted an official dinner for the conference participants.
November 2: Lebanon Opportunities is back!
After a three-month closure forced by the July 2006 War, Lebanon Opportunities is back with a special Back-in-Business issue. This issue contains all the news since July 2006 and several in-depth features on the impact of the war on Lebanon.