If You Build, Will They Come?
Mind Boggling Figures
Today, Assafir proudly carried on its first page this fantastic piece of news: Real Estate Project worth 1 Billion Dollars to be launched in the heart of the Beirut Central District.
My father was so happy he printed it out for me, just in case I haven’t seen it. We talked about how many jobs this project could create, how this might alleviate Lebanon’s economical woes. We felt really proud..
..Until we read this piece of news in, of al places, Hariri-owned Almustaqbal newspaper:
27 Billion Dollars earmarked to develop a touristic project in a small island next to Abu Dhabi, UAE.
27 Billion dollars, for an island? That would be Just below the 35 Billion dollar of debt that has been giving Lebanon so much headache those last years. I’m not even beginning to mention Dubai, where a cute little 18 Billion dollar project has just been added to its mega construction site.
I have a degree in business, but everytime I try to make sense of this supply-sided construction drive, my mind shuts down. I’ve been trying to make sense of this by reading, and reading, and reading, but still, something just doesn’t add up and I can’t put my finger on it.
Perhaps I’m wrong.
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Hello, my name is Mustapha and I blog in The Beirut Spring about Lebanese society and politics. I started in February 2005 after the killing of P.M. Rafik Hariri.
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I understand your amazement. But until Lebanon regains security and stability, we will only be making small steps towards economical growth and development. Still $1 billion will bring many job opportunities, we’ll take it.
Dalal
Ya mahasin al sudaf!
I wonder as a graduate civil engineer how much will i be paid if i worked on this project? $800???
The market for tourism and commercial development should be large enough for both Lebanon, Abu Dhabi and many others. Contrary to the way it is often portrayed the Beirut- Abu Dhabi story is NOT a zero sum game. Actually one can even speak of potential complimentarities between them. It is not often that you hear the argument that if Florida develops then that is bad ,say, for California or Nevada. The development of one could help the development of the other.
ak,
800$ is about right. but that depends on a few other factors …
I have to agree with Ghassan. Let’s not forget that the Lebanese expatriate population in the UAE is huge and fairly successful. And unlike other civilized western countries, we can’t get citizenship here. Hence, we will all have to go back home sooner or later. Those buildings being built now will hopefully house some of us.