Highlights

Context

Local authorities in the Middle East and Turkey are still bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic socio-economic consequences, which added to their struggle to manage the additional social and economic pressure of hosting refugees and displaced. With rising unemployment and an increase in vulnerable households, public authorities are now trying to find ways to support the economic pitfall that will emerge.

Solutions could come by involving the private sector in local development responses while supporting local businesses facing the crisis. With investment plummeting, and associated job destructions and losses, public authorities can play a role in ensuring a strong recovery by engaging the private sector broadly. Local authorities, who know best the potential of their area and the needs of their residents, can attract the private sector to take part in development projects and can provide support to local businesses. This can benefit local and displaced populations directly (through job creation) and indirectly (as a spillover to the local growth), ultimately benefitting the local economy. A strong private sector also benefits host local governments in return, bringing taxes, an attractive economic environment, and stimulating more investments.  

Local authorities lack knowledge and know-how on partnering with the private sector. Public-Private partnerships often require not only the capacity to approach and dialogue with the private sector, but also to design business plans, and follow existing regulations and administrative steps. Local authorities members of the Mediterranean Host Municipalities Learning Network (HMLN) expressed their increased need for support for continuing to provide a livable local economic environment to all residents and asked for more guidance on how to engage the private sector for the benefit of their populations, including refugees.

As a follow up of the online training (June 2021) on “Approaches, Methods, and Tools for Host Municipalities to Engage with the Private Sector”, which led to the draft of 22 private sector engagement strategies by municipalities, this event series will focus on country regulations and processes for public-private partnerships. The first session was be dedicated to Lebanon. 

Target audience and participation in the event

This event was training for local government representatives from Lebanon

Agenda and Speakers

The event provided participants with technical presentations on country regulations for public-private partnership (PPP), practical steps that municipalities have to take to partner with private companies, sign and implement PPPs, and practical examples. Technical presentations were followed by a moderated discussion around the main issues encountered by municipalities in PPPs. The agenda was as follows (times are GMT+2, Beirut time) : 

10h- 10h10: Introduction

10h10 – 10h55: Technical presentations

Presentation of the Badri and Salim El Meouchi (EBSM) Law Firm

Aurélie Arnaud, Associate Investment Officer, IFC: An Introduction to Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Presentation to Lebanese Municipalities 

Walid Honein, Partner, Badri, and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm: Public-Private Partnership Municipalities or Union of Municipalities

10h55 – 11h25: Q&A and Open discussion: “How to overcome the main issues faced by Lebanese municipalities in PPPs”.

Aurélie Arnaud, Associate Investment Officer, IFC

Aurelie is an Associate Investment Officer in the IFC PPP Transaction Advisory Services team. She joined the IFC Dubai office in 2018 and relocated to Amman in 2019 to focus on PPP projects in the Levant region. She has notably worked on the Beirut Airport PPP project, for which IFC has acted as transaction advisor to the Government of Lebanon. Before IFC, she worked in the electricity sector for 6 years in Africa, developing both conventional power and distribution projects for EDF (Electricite de France) and then solar and wind projects for a renewable energy developer, BioTherm Energy. Aurelie holds a Master’s from HEC Paris Business School.

Chadia El Meouchi, Managing Partner, Badri, and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm

Chadia El Meouchi is the Managing Partner of Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm, a regional Law Firm with offices in Lebanon and Qatar. She has been a member of the New

York Bar since 2000. Chadia joined the firm in 2000 and became Managing Partner in 2005. Chadia has practiced law in North America and the Middle East (including Lebanon and Qatar) for over 19 years, and she has been recognized by Financial News as amongst the top 50 Most Influential Women in Middle East Finance (2019). She advises clients in a large number of fields, most particularly in the areas of corporate, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance (both Islamic and conventional), PPP, the establishment of funds, capital markets and financial instruments, structuring and restructuring, oil and gas, hospitality and urban development, insurance, project finance, construction law, environmental law, and real estate, throughout the MENA region, Europe, Asia, the GCC and North, and South America.

Walid Honein, Partner, Badri, and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm

Walid Honein joined the firm in 1987 and became a Partner in 2007. He specializes notably in real estate, real estate financing, and construction. He has advised numerous clients on major real estate projects, including master cities, for all aspects of their project, from financing to contracting and construction, to subsequent subdivision and sale. He is also very active in the nascent Oil and Gas sector in Lebanon, having advised numerous international companies from 2012 onwards in relation to the various proposed bid processes. Walid also advises clients on various aspects of corporate and commercial law. He has advised numerous clients in respect of the acquisition of companies in different sectors such as education, real estate development, general trading, hospitality, and the food industry. 

Partners

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. It helps developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. IFC’s strategy focuses on “creating markets” through mobilizing private investment. For more information, please visit www.ifc.org

IFC’s Public-Private Partnerships Transactions Advisory Services department provides sell-side financial advisory services to client governments with the purpose to increase access to basic infrastructure and social services by facilitating private investments in these sectors. Specifically, the team acts as Lead Transaction Advisor to governments to structure and implement public-private partnerships (PPP) transactions across all infrastructure sectors, e.g. power, water, transportation, and telecommunications, as well as social sectors such as health and education, with a particular focus on energy and transport, and for the following types of transactions:

• Public-Private Partnerships e.g. BOT type concessions
• Management and lease contracts
• Restructuring and privatization of state-owned enterprises.

Etude Badri and Salim El Meouchi (EBSM) was founded in Beirut in the 1890s, and now represents clients from all over the world, providing legal services throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, from its offices in Beirut, Lebanon, and Doha, Qatar. Their clients include leading local, regional, and multinational companies: they range from the world’s largest financial institutions and leading commercial, manufacturing, and industrial companies, right through to family-owned enterprises and the individuals that stand behind them. EBSM has wide expertise in power and energy projects as highlighted, as well as a strong knowledge of the legal and regulatory environment in Lebanon, touching various specialties, including corporate, power production, infrastructure, tax, PPP, general structuring, and others. Our firm has also developed extensive expertise in drafting and advising on legislation in Lebanon in various fields, including oil and gas law, competition law, code of commerce amendments, and others.

Resources

Watch the session recording