Summary: BEIRUT: Lebanon's Central Bank governor Riad Salameh said Wednesday that the bank is taking all the necessary measures to encourage commercial banks to lend money to small- and medium-sized business, or SMEs, at reasonable rates with special emphasis on technology. "The Central Bank is providing incentives for banks to provide low-interest
BEIRUT: Lebanon's Central Bank governor Riad Salameh said Wednesday that the bank is taking all the necessary measures to encourage commercial banks to lend money to small- and medium-sized business, or SMEs, at reasonable rates with special emphasis on technology.
"The Central Bank is providing incentives for banks to provide low-interest loans to SMEs to help these businesses expand. This incentive loan program, which targets the information and technology sectors directly or indirectly, provides loans to local firms that manufacture information technology equipment, programs and specialized technologies, and offers related services," the governor said at a conference.
He said the bank also supports loans to individuals and small enterprises of four people or less, with the approval of micro-credit institutions, in order to help them create or develop projects in the production, service, tourist or commercial sectors, including information technology and internet.
"Web and mobile entrepreneurship is an ideal sector for young people to start their own businesses. First, the costs and requirements of setting up a business are low, so there are few barriers preventing young people from entering the field," Salameh said.
He stressed that the Central Bank is relying more and more on real time, online connections with the banking sector, thus enhancing the efficiency at the service of the economy.
"On the other hand, our bank long ago issued a circular to regulate e-banking. Based on this circular, many banks developed platforms to connect with customers in various fields. Beyond the web and mobile, the Central Bank of Lebanon's vision is to back the efforts of the public and private sectors, to promote Lebanon as a hub for the creative industries more broadly," he said.
He added that Lebanon's highly educated young people, top universities and culturally diverse and open environment, give it a competitive advantage in sectors like web development and design, mobile applications, gaming, illustration and animation.
"Those service sectors generate high-paid, high-value-added jobs for Lebanese youths, and can help reverse the brain drain that is taking them out of their own country in search of opportunities. In a country that prides itself on its freedom of expression and diversity of opinion, Lebanon is ideally poised to leverage these technological tools to build a more participatory and transparent society," he said.
Salameh also underlined the need for more investment to allow Arab youths who have grown up with new technologies to harness their skills and capabilities. -- The Daily Star
Copyright 2011, The Daily Star. All rights reserved.
Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company
No comments:
Post a Comment