China agreement yields $11 million in financing. To be bartered against local products

The Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) signed two loan agreements totaling $8 million and a $3.3 million in-kind grant agreement with the Embassy of China to finance public projects.

The loans have zero interest and will be repaid over a period of ten years. "The loans may be bartered against Lebanese products instead of money," said Wafaa Charafeddine, Director of Funding at CDR.

The projects that will be financed have not yet been selected. "We will act as counterpa...

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Jiyeh power plant on grid next month. Zouk plant to follow within a few months

The construction of a new power plant in Jiyeh is in its final stages.

"It will start producing power by the end of October," said Ahmad Loubani, Director of the Commercial Department at the Embassy of Denmark. The plant will increase total power production by 17 percent.

Danish firm Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor (BWSC), the project's contractor, is conducting testing and commissioning works in the preparation to link the new plant to the grid.

The Jiyeh plant ...

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Solution to waste crisis in hands of municipalities. Short term plan to resolve rising trash mountains

The Council of Ministers has received the plan of the ministerial committee tasked with handling the trash crisis.

The plan's main component is to ask unions of municipalities and municipalities to handle the responsibility of sweeping, collecting, and treating solid waste, according to Anwar Daou, advisor to the ministry of agriculture.

The committee is formed of the ministries of administrative development, interior and municipalities, environment, and agriculture. Representati...

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Three electrical substations will become ready in 2017. Matelec contract valued at $108 million

Construction works on three power substations in Bahsas-Tripoli, Mdawar-Ashrafieh, and the southern suburbs, have begun by Matelec, the contracted company.

The new substations will have the capacity to produce 220 kilovolts of electric output. Construction of the substations is expected to be delivered in early 2017. The consultant on the project is DEP Partners.

The contract was won by the local Matelec after being tendered in January 2014 at a value of $108 million. This project ...

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Public and private facilities go solar. Solar generated power finally being seen as alternative to power outages

More public and private facilities, touristic sites, and syndicates are leaning toward solar power to offset public electricity cutoffs.

The Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in Tripoli and the North revealed its intentions to build a solar plant on top of its building to light up the highway from the city's entrance to Bchara el Khoury and Achir el Daya streets. The project, valued at $350,000, is in its tendering phase. Among the latest entities also to adopt renewable ener...

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Imports of mobile devices drop by 85 percent. Illegal trade is back in first half of 2015

Imports of mobile devices have dropped by 85 percent in the first half of 2015, compared to the same period last year. Based on Customs figures, the value of the imports was $11 million this year, compared to $73 million in 2014.

George Azar, Group Strategy Director and Business Developer for AC Holding, local agent for Samsung, said that this was due to the cancellation of the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). "Smuggling is back at an even higher pace than before the IMEI ...

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