BIAT 2014Newsletters

This project isfunded by the EU

JanuaryNewsletters

This project isfunded by the EU

Visit of Governor of North Lebanon

Accompanied by Chairman Toufic Dabboussi, the Governor of North Lebanon (Acting governor of

Beirut) Mr. Nassif Kalouch paid a visit to BIAT on January, 13, 2014. BIAT’s Director Mr. Fawaz

Hamidi gave a presentation about BIAT’s services and accomplishments. The governor then took a

tour of BIAT’s premises and met with a number of BIAT’s beneficiaries. The visitors appraised the

achievements of BIAT and wished BIAT continuous success.

Group picture

From left: Chairman Dabboussi, Governor Kaloush, Director Fawaz Hamidi meeting with BIAT beneficiaries.

Youth @ Work AlFayhaa Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony of Youth @ Work AlFayhaa was organized in order to graduate 161 youth

participants from the three cities of AlFayhaa (Badawi, Tripoli, Mina) on Friday the 17th of January,

2014 at 3:00 pm at the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Tripoli and North

Lebanon. The project was originally launched on March 16, 2013. The program "Youth @ Work

Fayhaa" is sponsored by the Arab Urban Development Institute, in partnership with the Union of Al-

Fayhaa Municipalities, the International Youth Foundation, Chamber of Commerce, Industry and

Agriculture in Lebanon, and the Business Incubation Association in Tripoli (BIAT).

Mr. Toufic Dabbousi Mr. Nader Ghazal Mr. Fawaz Hamidi

Mr. Elie Kai

The official ceremony included speeches by the Mayor of Tripoli Municipality “Dr. Nader

Ghazal” , Chairman of Chamber of Commerce of Tripoli “Mr. Toufic Dabbousi”, Program

Manager “ Mr. Elie Kai” of AUDI, and Director of BIAT “ Mr. Fawaz Hamidi”. The three

winning NGOs “Ribat Association, NYGO, and IT Association” projected their implemented

projects and lessons learned by youth.

Mr. Toufic Dabbousi and Mr. Nader Ghazal learning about youth @ work beneficiaries’ projects.

Left to Right :Mr. Elie Kai Youth @ work beneficiary; Ms. Razan Baloukji ; Mr. Fawaz Hamidi

Accounting Photography

AC Maintenance Makeup

Following the ceremony an exhibition and a cocktail took place in the glass auditorium

where 161 youth trainee were present. Youth from different majors exhibited and used

their earned life skills from the “Passport to Success Training” by communicating and

networking with potential customers and the public and demonstrated their technical

skills in different majors such as mobile maintenance , AC maintenance ,computer

maintenance, android applications, makeup, photography, montage and video editing,

jewelry design, accounting, and writing journalistic forms and gave away their business

cards for job opportunities. The visitors were impressed by the simulations presented by

the youth during the exhibition and got in contact with new employers and customers.

At the end of the event, youth that participated in the program shared their

testimonies with the crowd and certificates were distributed to graduates of youth @

work AlFayhaa.

MEDPORTS KICK OFF MEETING

The kick off meeting of MEDPORTS “Mediterranean Ports Sustainability & Efficiency in

“Intermodal Synchronization” was held on January 21st and 22nd ,2014 in Spain/Seville.

MEDPORTS project is co-financed by the EU through the European cross-border cooperation

program ENPI CBC MED with non-European Mediterranean areas. It aims to provide, beyond

what its name suggests, the best techniques to increase efficiency and sustainability in port

cargo traffic, accelerating the process, and reducing cargo residence time in ports through an

implementation period of 2 years.

BIAT team Eng. Ranim Maksoud (Project Coordinator) and Mr. Abedulrahman Ghaleb attended

the launching event. BIAT is the lead partner in the communication work package and will also

be responsible for providing technical and administrative support to the port of Tripoli

throughout the project. All partners attended the kick off meeting.

The MEDPORTS partners are:

From Spain: lead partner IAT (Instituto Andaluz de Tecnologia), the Seville Port Authority,

University of Cadiz, and the National Center of Excellence in Integrated Logistics.

From Lebanon: Office of Exploitation of Tripoli Port (OEPT) and Business Incubation Association

in Tripoli (BIAT).

From Jordan: Al-Balqa Applied University (BAU) and its associate Aqaba Port Corporation.

Group picture

FebruaryNewsletters

BIAT NEW E.U Support

European Union delegates, Mr. Deigo Escalona Paturel (First Secretary Head of

Cooperation Section) and Ms. Virginie Cossul (Policy Officer-Trade and Private Sector),

visited BIAT on February, 5, 2014 to discuss a new E.U. support.

From Left to Right: Mr. Deigo Escalona Paturel (First Secretary Head of Cooperation Section) and Ms. Virginie Cossul (Policy Officer-Trade and Private Sector), Chairman Toufic Dabbousi, Mr. Fawaz Hamidi (BIAT’s Director), & Mr. Nasri Moawad (BIAT’s Vice Director

BIAT’s Team with EU Delegation (Mr. Deigo Escalona Paturel and Ms. Virginie Cossul)

After meeting the staff and learning more about their diverse competences, the delegation thenvisited Chairman Mr. Toufic Dabbousi, where Mr. Fawaz Hamidi explained how the objectives ofBIAT and the Chamber overlap for they constantly aim to develop different sectors of theeconomic infrastructure and support the small and medium enterprises.The European delegation and on behalf of the European commission declared that the EU is wellconvinced in the projects implemented by BIAT and the Chamber and that the Europeancommission support comes within the frame of supporting the Lebanese economy.

Mr. Toufic Dabbousi expressed his thanks to the European Union for their help and support todevelop these enterprises.The E.U. Delegation then toured in BIAT Branches “Innovation Center & Industrial Space” werethey met a number of BIAT's beneficiaries and clients

From left to right: Ms. Virginie Cossul (Policy Officer-Trade and Private Sector), Mr. Deigo Escalona Paturel (First Secretary Head of Cooperation Section), Mr. Fawaz Hamidi (BIAT’s Director), and Ms. Najah Kasaa (BIAT’s Chemist).

Meeting with BIAT incubate: Mr. Ziad Sankari of Cardio Diagnostics.

Meeting with BIAT freelancers: Ms. Rayan Zahab and Mr. Ahmad Bayloni of Array Fusion.

Meeting with BIAT freelancers: Ms. Rayan Zahab and Mr. Ahmad Bayloni of Array Fusion.

Meeting with a number of BIAT’s beneficiaries.

Lebanese Economic Organization Visits BIAT

Chairman Mr. Toufic Dabbousi of Chamber of Commerce of Tripoli and North

Lebanon invited the Lebanese Economic Organization to visit BIAT

premises on February 12, 2014. The organization took a tour in BIAT Branches and met

with its freelancers and Incubates. BIAT’s director Mr. Fawaz Hamidi introduced BIAT’s

mission and activities around business support and SME development in its two branches

in Akkar and Tripoli in addition to other areas in North Lebanon

From left to right: Mr. Fawaz Hamidi (BIAT’s Director), Mr. Toufic Dabbousi(General secretary of Union of

Chambers and President of Chamber of Commerce of Tripoli and North Lebanon ), Mr. Adnan Kassar (Life time

chamber leader and former Minister of Economy and Trade).

Group photo.

Along with BIAT accomplishments and services, Mr. Fawaz Hamidi revealed BIAT’s

new soap product “Clemence” which found appreciation from the organization.

Clemence is a traditional soap product launched by BIAT’s Industrial Space. The

visitors wished BIAT progress on their unique product as they move from one stage

to another.

MarchNewsletters

Series of Trainings“Improved Livelihood for Underprivileged Women in

North Lebanon”

BIAT delivered a series of trainings under “Improved Livelihood for Underprivileged Women in

North Lebanon” a project funded by the European Union. The training took place in BIAT Tripoli

and Akkar branches in collaboration with Rene Moawad Foundation (RMF) on February 19, 20,

24, 26 and March 4, 5, 11, 12, 13 covering marketing, management, and bookkeeping courses.

This training program will ultimately allow women to become fully fledged economic agents who

have mastered business management skills and have a good grasp of their markets.

Marketing course delivered by BIAT’s Trainer Mrs. Lina Ali Tabbal

These trainings were developed in order to improve the technical and

managerial capacities of women SME’s and increase their opportunities to

improve the quality and quantity of their productions.

Management course delivered by BIAT’s trainer Mr. Abdel Rahman Ghaleb

Bookkeeping course delivered by BIAT’s trainer Mrs. Ahlam Abou Baker Chalabi

PRIME Kick- Off Meeting

PRIME “Promoting Intergenerational Learning in the Mediterranean Countries” is a

project co-financed by the EU through the European cross-border cooperation

program ENPI CBC MED with non-European Mediterranean areas.

The project aims to foster intergenerational learning within gold/silversmith and

gemologists, develop transferable mentoring schemes for intergenerational

learning, and transfer of core skills in the gold/silversmith and gemology sector in

an implementation period of 2 years.

Mr. Fawaz Hamidi (BIAT Director) - During kick off meeting day 1

In total, the project will train and mentor 40 family businesses in the gold and silversmith

industry (12/15 per country) and 90 young entrepreneurs (20/30 per country). Each country will

have from 6 to 8 bags for mobility and study visits to be awarded to young entrepreneurs in the

sector (for a total of 50 scholarships to be awarded throughout the project).

BIAT team Mr. Fawaz Hamidi (Director) and Ms. Guida Minkara (Project Coordination Officer)

along with non-European partners attended the kick- off meeting of PRIME which was held on

February 20 and 21, 2014 in Italy/Rome. The meeting was hosted by the lead partner: Rome

Institute for Entrepreneurial Training (IRFI).

From Lebanon: Notre Dame University (NDU) and Chamber of Commerce, Industry and

Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon.

From Greece: “The Greece Association of Silversmith & Jewelry Manufacture”, “MOKUME” and

“Omega Technology”.

From Egypt: Jewelry Technology Centre.

The kick-off meeting was also attended by representatives from JMA “Joint Managing Authority”

of the ENPI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme, JTS “Joint Technical Secretariat”, and

guests from the gold/silversmith industry from Rome /Italy.

Chemonics Visits BIAT

Since BIAT plays a critical role as a business incubator and business support institution in Tripoli,

Chemonics was assigned by USAID-funded assessment under the Asia and Middle East

Economic Growth Best Practices (AMEG) Project to visit BIAT on February 27, 2014. The

main aim of the visit was to carry out an assessment that focuses on analyzing the

investment landscape and business environment for start-ups and growth businesses in

Lebanon, with a focus on small and medium size enterprises for a soon to be launched

project “MENA ll ”. Mr.Fawaz Hamidi ; director of BIAT provided information about the

status and course of North Lebanon’s early stage and growth capital funding sources,

quality and impact of the institutions supporting business start-ups and growth businesses,

and challenges and opportunities of the enabling environment.

We would like to note that Chemonics is owned entirely by employees, and is an ISO-9001

certified international development company that has been working for more than 37

years. They have partnered with local and international organizations to promote social

and economic change around the world.

From left to right: Mrs. Ahlam Abou Baker(BIAT) , Mr. Fawaz Hamidi(BIAT Director) , Mr. Steven Zausner(Senior Financial

Management Expert- AMEG), Mr, Craig Saltzer(Manager Middle East-Chemonics) ,Ms. Melissa Scudo(Program Manager-AMEG),

Mr. Hamze Obeid(BIAT)

Visit of Minister of Economy and Trade

The Minister of Economy and Trade H. E Alain Hakim paid a visit to BIAT with Chairman Mr. Toufic Dabbousi from Chamber of commerce of Tripoli and Mayor of Tripoli Dr. Nader Ghazal onMarch 12, 2014.BIAT’s director, Mr. Fawaz Hamidi, introduced BIAT’s mission which is hosting, incubating, training, and supporting value added business opportunities in North Lebanon. Up to March 2013, BIAT had 1700 clients, gave 1300 general advice and directory, got more than 6 million $worth of Kafalat loans, not to mention 2340 individuals who benefited from BIAT’s training. Suchservices leave an important impact on the business environment in North Lebanon.

Mr. Fawaz Hamidi- BIAT Director while introducing BIAT services to H.E Alain Hakim

Clemence “Princesse de Tripoli” BIAT soap product gift from city of Tripoli to his Excellency.

From left to right: BIAT’s Director Mr. Fawaz Hamidi, Mayor of Tripoli Dr. Nader Ghazal , H.E Alain Hakim ,

Chairman Mr. Toufic Dabbousi.

The visitors wished BIAT’s team success on their future projects and products.

“Start Up Your Soap Business” Workshops

“Start Up Your Soap Business” Workshops is an initiative launched by BIAT partnership with

the Mutual Fund, Chamber of Commerce of Tripoli, North Lebanon, and Banque

Libano Francaise on Monday 24th of March, 2014 at 11:30am. The launching event took

place in BIAT premises in Chamber of Commerce-Tripoli in the presence of Mr. Rachid

Jamali, former Mayor of Tripoli Municipality, Mr. Khalil Atieh representing Kafalat,

and Mr.Omar Tabbal representing Banque Libano Francaise.

Speaker: Mr. Fawaz Hamidi –BIAT Director

Mr. Fawaz Hamidi, BIAT’s Director, announced the launching of 6 soap workshops and stated that

the aim behind this initiative is to encourage fresh graduates, entrepreneurs, and women to

open a soap venture and to emphasize on the importance of this type of craft “Soap Production”

and to upgrade the quality of Tripolitan soap.

Speaker :Ms. Najah Kasaa ( BIAT CHEMIST)

Ms. Najah Kasaa (BIAT’s Chemist) gave a presentation on soap making ,and BIAT

soap Product “ Clemence” and later on explained to the audience the benefits

of opening a soap business and how affordable and profitable it can be, and why

were targeting olive oil soap specifically .

Mr. Khalil Attieh ( Kafalat) Mr. Omar Tabbal ( BLF)

Following that, Mr. Khalil Attieh (Kafalat-credit Analyst) and Mr. Omar Tabbal (Banque Libano

Francaise-Direction Mina Branch ) presented an overview about products, facilities, and loans

they offer to start up a business.

The ceremony ended successfully at 1:00 pm with a cocktail.

April Newsletter

BIAT & OEPT COLLABORATION ON VALUE STREAM MAPPING & TIME STUDY FOR MEDPORTS PROJECT

BIAT & OEPT “Office Exploitation of Port of Tripoli” are collaborating as part of the activities and

partnerships of MEDPORTS project. BIAT team visited the Port of Tripoli on April 1st, 2nd, and

23rd in order to collect real time data about the activities of the logistics process under study;

i.e. Import of Dry Bulk. This cooperation among all stakeholders, which is lead by BIAT, helped

develop the process’s current Value Stream Mapping “VSM” draft. BIAT is also conducting a

time study of the current VSM activities in order to determine waste of time and bottlenecks

and suggest a future enhanced VSM.

The time study is conducted by BIAT’s team in collaboration with OEPT and accordingly different

time measurements of the chosen process have taken place during several workshops

conducted between May 30th & June 2nd. These workshops consisted of field visits to measure

the exact time needed for different activities of the process. Additional workshops will be held in

order to issue a guidance to improve the efficiency of the port process as a part of MEDPORTS

objectives.

World Bank VisitOn the 28th of April 2014, a delegation of the World Bank visited BIAT. Mr. Peter J.Mousley,

the Lead Specialist in Finance and Private Sector Development and Ms. Sarah Al Rowas,

the Specialist in Finance and Private Sector Development were both interested in exploring

the finance -SME ecosystem in North Lebanon. Mr. Fawaz Hamidi, BIAT Director, came up

with a presentation that shed the light on the state of the art and gaps of the SME

equity, financing value chain, and the needs of the entrepreneurs and the equity financing

actors in North Lebanon. The guests agreed upon collaborating and associating

further for the ultimate goal to develop anon comprehensive integrated

SME-equity financing ecosystem in North Lebanon

Group picture

August Newsletters

SHAAMS Policy first local meetingGreen Building in Lebanon: Stick & Carrot

On the 28th of August 2014, BIAT organized the first local policy meeting of SHAAMS which main

role to define and implement a series of actions aimed at raising public awareness on the

opportunities and potentialities of solar energy solutions for the social and economical growth in

Lebanon. This was with the coordination of the Lebanese Conservation Center (LCEC) and the

Lebanese Green Building Council (LGBC), under the policy accelerator pillar of SHAAMS ENPI CBC

Med project. The event gave importance to the Green Buildings in Lebanon taking into

consideration on one hand the policies and regulations (stick),and on the other hand the financial

schemes and incentives (carrot).

Left to Right: Mr. Rabih Khairallah Vice President &Board Member, Green Building Council - Lebanonand Mr. Hamza Obeid Financial Manager ofSHAAMS Project, Research and Developmentcoordinator at BIAT.

Dr. Joseph Al Assad, Assistant Professor at UniversitéSaint-Esprit Kaslik (USEK). Advisor to the LCEC,Secretary General of the WEC Lebanon Committee,Lebanon.

The main target of the meeting was the policy makers in Lebanon including; The Ministry of Electricity

and Water (MEW), The Ministry of Environment (MOE), the Electricity of Lebanon (EDL), the order of

Engineers in Beirut and Tripoli, LCEC,LGBC, the Lebanese Standards Institution (LIBNOR), Association

Libanaise de Maîtrise de l'Energie et de l'Environnement (ALMEE), in addition to the Municipalities and

the private sector representatives. The event offered a good opportunity for Green Building Private

Sector actors to present their concerns and pinpoints the market barriers and obstacles. Also, it allowed

policy makers to present their strategies, renewable energy and energy efficiency plans in a way to

ensure better synchronization among green building actors which will lead to a better analysis and

acceleration of the Green Building Sector in Lebanon.

SHAAMS round table

The meeting held two main crucial axis. The first axis was about Policies and Regulations during

which Dr. Joseph Al Assad (Advisor to the LCEC and secretary of the world energy council

Lebanon Committee) gave a presentation about NEEAP 2011-2015 of lessons learned and future

steps. Likewise, Mr. Ziad Haddad (LGBC Vice President) underlined the barriers, perspectives and

solutions for the green building sector in Lebanon. The second axis was dedicated to incentives

and financial tools. Moreover, Mr. Ralph Estephan (officer Energy and technology department –

Kafalat) talked about Kafalat financing Process and eligibility criteria, target sectors, subsidized

rate, etc… in order to allow different stakeholders the possibility of implementing green

solutions. As a result, the meeting allowed a useful diagnosis of the Green Building challenges,

and a list of recommendations in order to benefit from the sector’s potential

Left to Right: Mr.Fawaz Hamidi BIAT’s Director and Mr. Hamze Obeid Financial Manager of SHAAMS project and BIAT Research and Development Coordinator and LGBC Vice President Mr. Rabih Khairallah.

OctoberNewsletters

SHAAMS Second Policy Local Meeting

On the 30th of October 2014, and under the policy accelerator pillar of SHAAMS

ENPI CBC Med project, BIAT organized the second local policy meeting in Lebanon.

The main objective of this meeting was to endorse the draft of Energy Country

Report (Lebanon) prepared by Dr. Adel Mourtada as to establish a baseline for

future steps (Roadmap) within SHAAMS Project

The meeting started with Mr. Nasri Moawad’s embracement speech; BIAT vice

Director. Later on, Dr. Adel Mourtada presented his report “Lebanon Energy

Country Report” entitled Viable Roadmap for the Promotion of Solar

Photovoltaic Energy in Lebanon.

Then participants had the opportunity to share their opinions and suggest

improvements that were taken into consideration by Dr. Imad Mgharbel (the

Rapporteur) in order to integrate them in the final version of the report on renewable

energy in Lebanon which shall be presented in the national round-table to be organized

at the beginning of 2015

Group picture

Layla Soleh’s Visit

BIAT had the honor to embrace Mrs.Layla Soloh, Vice president of Al- Waleed bin Talal

humanitarian foundation. Director of BIAT Mr. Fawaz Hamidi defined and explained in a

detailed presentation the services and projects of BIAT.

Mrs. Soleh took a tour in BIAT’s premises and met the young entrepreneurs focusing on

their future plans and projects. Al Soleh uttered that BIAT is an example and a superior

proof that Tripoli city is full with capabilities and educated individuals .Mrs.Soleh visit to

BIAT was under the title of her visit to Tripoli community initiated by Mufti-Chaar and

Chairman Toufic Daboussi of Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Toufic Dabbousi.

Her Excellency with BIAT Staff

DecemberNewsletters

“PRIME” Generations of Success in the Gold & Silver Sectors

On the 10th of December 2014, PRIME project “Promoting Intergenerationallearning in Mediterranean countries” second public event, took place at BIAT’s premises in the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Tripoli - North Lebanon. The event was directed by BIAT, in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture of Tripoli - North Lebanon, and the Syndicate of Jewelers in the North.PRIME’s project objective is not only limited to fostering intergenerational learning within gold/ silversmiths and to developing transferable mentoring schemes for intergenerational learning but also to transferring core skills in the gold/silversmith and gemology sectors. Furthermore, the targeted groups are young entrepreneurs mainly planning to start up a business to benefit from anexisting one. It also covers entrepreneurs and young candidates willing to take over a family business in the field.

President Khaled Al Namel representing the Syndicate of jewelers in Tripoli embracing the audience and underlying the positive impact of spring project on the jewelry sector.

Director of BIAT, Mr. Fawaz Hamidi on his deliberate speech with President Khaled Al Namel the Syndicate of jewelers in Tripoli.

President Toufic Dabbousi representing the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture of Tripoli, North Lebanon delivering his welcome speech.

BIAT’s Director Mr. Fawaz Hamidi, embraced the audience with defining BIAT’s strategic role

in creating job opportunities through socio-economical development projects and shed the

light on the essential methods to make the gold silver smith sector prosper and evolve.

Likewise, President Toufic Daboussi embraced the audience, and believed that society has a

bulk role in the jewelry industry field. He said that there should be a basic element

requirement and it is the “creativity” in order to attract quality customers in the Lebanese

and Arab countries.

Moreover, Mr. Khaled Al-Namel was grateful for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry

and Agriculture in Tripoli - North Lebanon and its partners for their initiative and promising

plans that will offer new opportunities for Tripoli. He called upon the participants to have a

good enrollment in PRIME Project for the welfare of the up-coming generations.

Miss Guida Minkara, BIATs Project Coordinator, updated the audience with the status of the

project, the purpose of the project, discussed the upcoming activities, and the importance of

the audience in being a part of the intergenerational transfer in this sector.

Group Photo

PRIME communication officer Guida Minkara discussing PRIME project with syndicate members.