Forbes: Leaders In Learning - Mar 29, 2010 - Starmanship ...

SPECIAT EDITION 

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lebanon2-2010:forbes 3/1/10 8:23 AM Page 1 

PROMOTION 

peace profits II 

Lebanon is achieving amazing growth rates and fighting to regain its 

reputation as the Switzerland of the Middle East. 

Boosted by an extremely effective banking system and 

dynamic tourism and construction sectors, Lebanon’s economy 

grew 7% last year. 

Bucking the global trends, 2009 was the country’s third year 

of continual expansion, giving it the second-highest rate of 

growth in the Middle East and North Africa region after Qatar. 

At the end of last year, Standard & Poor’s endorsed the country’s 

economic health by upgrading its credit rating from 

B- to B/B. 

In addition, the World Bank forecasts that Lebanon’s 

economy will increase again this year and average 7% 

growth through 2011. 

The signs of economic well-being are evident in Beirut. The 

downtown infrastructure has been restored and modernized 

to international standards. 

All of these developments reflect the relative political stability 

in the country and the diminishing possibility for international 

or ethnic hostility. Democratic elections took place 

last June without violence or foreign interference for the first 

time in more than three decades. And, although it took four 

months of wrangling, the new prime minister, Saad Hariri, was 

able to form a cabinet without any lapse in law and order. 

“We intend to utilize the positive momentum to launch a 

far-reaching economic reform program that will address the 

long-standing gaps in our basic infrastructure,” Hariri says. 

“In particular, we will upgrade the country’s electricity and 

water sectors, enhance the telecom infrastructure, and maintain 

and rehabilitate existing roads.” 

Riad Salameh, the governor of the Central Bank, Banque 

du Liban, masterminded the country’s financial resurgence and 

believes Lebanon will continue on this upward path. 

continued on the next page >>


2 LEBANON PROMOTION 

“Confidence is the cornerstone of what 

is happening,” he says. “We have a new 

government. The prime minister is young 

and an energetic entrepreneur. We have a 

president of the republic, Michel Suleiman, 

who is keen to keep coherence among the 

Lebanese. And the parliament is operating 

now with many laws, which it has to study, 

vote on and enact. 

“The synergy between these three powers 

is working. Lebanon is going to experience 

important economic growth that 

may create job opportunities. Personally, 

I’m optimistic.” 

Mohammad Choucair, president of the 

Chamber of Commerce, Industry and 

Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, 

echoes Salameh’s views: “Lebanon is in a 

situation nowadays in which all variables 

are ready for 2010 to be a great year,” he 

says. 

Mounir Douaidy, the general manager 

and financial director of Solidere, the 

“I think Lebanon is going to 

experience important economic 

growth that may create job 

opportunities. Personally, I’m 

optimistic.” 

Riad Salameh, Governor, 

Central Bank, Banque du Liban 

company responsible for the reconstruction 

of Beirut’s city center, voiced a widely held 

Lebanese belief that the country has the 

strong fundamentals required to regain its 

preeminent economic position as the 

Switzerland of the Middle East. 

“Lebanon has proved to be a resilient 

economy despite the negative events that 

have taken place in the past 20 years,” he 

says. “We have survived devastating 

crises, and today the economy is achieving 

much higher growth rates than most 

countries in the world, demonstrating that 

we are a safe plac in which people can live 

and invest.” ❖ 

Reaping the 

Benefits of Peace 

Lebanon’s financial services, 

insurance, law and IT sectors are 

expanding fast at home and 

abroad. 

Over the past two years, Lebanon’s bank 

deposits have risen by 22%, and foreign currency 

reserves have reached record levels as 

a result of the growing confidence engendered 

by the relative political stability. 

The wisdom and regulatory authority of 

the central bank enabled the banking sector 

to avoid the international financial crisis, 

says Joseph Torbey, the president of the 

Lebanese Banking Association and chairman 

and general manager of Credit 

Libanais. 

One after another, the country’s banking 

institutions have announced substantial, 

even record, net profits. 

The Lebanon & Gulf Bank’s profits will 

double those of last year, and its assets have 

increased 30% this year, says Samer Itani, the 

bank’s vice chairman and general manager. 

Bank Audi, the country’s largest financial 

institution, is executing an international 

expansion program with the goal of becoming 

a regional player in the Middle East, says 

Freddie Baz, the group’s chief financial officer 

and strategy director. 

CreditBank, a large residential and commercial 

bank, has maintained an average 

growth rate of 22%. “We are in a growth 

phase,” says Tarek Khalifé, the bank’s 

chairman and general manager. “Our total 

assets passed the $1 billion mark last June, 

and our capital value is more than $100 million.” 

In the next few years, Khalifé envisions 

CreditBank raising more capital, buying or 

merging with another bank, and diversifying 

into new markets. He sees opportunities 

in Eastern Europe and in some places 

in Africa. “I believe that in Africa, underregulation 

is going to be an opportunity for 

someone who knows how to tolerate that 

kind of atmosphere.” 

What differentiates CreditBank from 

other banks, he says, is its attention to the 

private sector: “We’re a leader in trade 

finance, in small and medium enterprises, 

in anything that is commercial lending.” 

Khalifé believes that if the current peace 

can be maintained, many international 

companies will contemplate a move to 

Lebanon. 

Political differences do not trouble the 

Lebanese, he says. “This is a country of deep 

diversity, and the main thing people should 

focus on is its pluralism. This pluralism is 

not a negative thing. It is richness for 

Lebanon.” 

For Fransabank – the country’s oldest 

financial institution, established in 1921 – 

the last few years have seen what Adel 

Kassar, the bank’s chairman and general 

All monetary figures are stated in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. 

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Project Managers: Eduardo Magaña, Corinne Frenzel and Ryan Pekarek 

Project Development: Clinton Cossette Commercial Director: Carolina Mateo 

Cover Photos: LAU; Nabil Mounzer/Corbis; Alan Gignoux / Alamy; Sky Bar 

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LEBANON 

PROMOTION 

3 

manager, describes as a quantum leap in its 

expansion strategy. 

At an international level, the bank now 

has a presence in seven other countries: 

Syria, Algeria, Libya, Sudan, France, 

Belarus and Cuba. 

At a local level, Fransabank is Lebanon’s 

most widely represented bank, with more 

than 100 branches, and it is expanding its 

local network to cover all regions. Notably, 

it maintained a presence in the southern 

region throughout the Israeli invasion and 

occupation. 

Fransabank intends to continue its 

expansion in international and regional 

markets that present high economic potential. 

“The importance of Lebanon is not 

only in the investment opportunities it presents 

within its borders,” says Kassar, “but 

also in those that it can pursue abroad.” 

Like its banks, Lebanon’s law firms, 

insurance companies and IT companies are 

reaping the benefits of peacetime. 

Abou Jaoude & Associates has reinforced 

its position as one of the leading law 

firms in the Middle East, increasing its local, 

regional and international client base. 

Carlos Abou Jaoude, the firm’s founder and 

managing partner, expects to increase its 

number of lawyers from the present 38 to 

100 by 2015. 

“The firm only relies on corporate clients 

and is now working on converting some 

family businesses into corporations, thus 

introducing corporate governance rules 

in anticipation of future flotation,” notes 

Jaoude. 

UFA Assurances, one of the country’s 

largest insurance companies, has enjoyed 

an increase in business of 15% to 20% in 

recent years but expects an increase of 40% 

in 2010, says its chairman, Henri 

Chalhoub. 

After establishing the company in Jordan 

in 1975, Chalhoub expanded its operations 

to Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Today, 

his company operates in nine countries 

around the Mediterranean Basin, in the 

Middle East, and in Europe and North 

America through a network of 25 offices. 

UFA controls and runs underwriting 

management agencies, insurance and reinsurance 

brokers, and service companies. 

Each entity operates autonomously with its 

own management and under its own name 

and banner. The total annual premiums that 

the group manages are in excess of $450 

million. 

Chalhoub describes himself as the patriarch 

of the business, which his two sons 

now run. “I think I will stop expanding 

now, except for one place I would go to, 

and that is Qatar,” he says. 

BML Istisharat, a Lebanese company that 

provides international banking and insurance 

companies with enterprise resource 

planning (ERP) software to manage their 

information systems, has launched its 

operations in seven banks in northern 

Iraq and plans to continue expanding 

there, says Joe Faddoul, its chairman. 

In addition to providing its services to a 

quarter of Lebanon’s own banks, the company 

has more than 300 clients worldwide 

and derives 60% of its revenue from 

exports to the U.S., Europe and the Middle 

East. Malaysia is its next target, says 

Faddoul. 

Market capitalization on the Beirut 

Stock Exchange increased last year by 

34% to $12.8 billion year-on-year, of 

which 66.7% was in banking stocks and 

30.7% in real estate stocks. 

“We are confident that the economic stability 

and growth will continue,” says 

Ghaleb Mahmassani, the vice chairman of 

the Exchange. ❖


LEBANON 

PROMOTION 

7 

Leaders in 

Learning 

Lebanon’s innovative study centers 

are teaching the world a thing or 

two about education. 

Peace in Lebanon has boosted enrollment 

in the country’s higher education sector. 

Fewer students are studying abroad, while 

more foreign students are attracted by 

what Lebanon can offer them. 

The Lebanese American University 

(LAU), one of the oldest of the country’s 15 

higher education establishments, experienced 

a 45% increase last year in students 

coming from the Persian Gulf states, says 

Dr. Joseph Jabbra, LAU’s president. 

The country’s appeal is understandable, 

he says: “Lebanon is a microcosm of the 

world. It is a place for the East and West 

to meet. Everybody wants to come to 

Lebanon. Give me five minutes, and I’ll convince 

you to come live here.” 

LAU has a similar appeal, he says, as it 

introduces its students to a variety of people 

from many other countries: “We distribute 

$12 million every year in financial aid 

to students who have the educational standards 

we look for but can’t afford their 

tuition. We feel strongly that there should 

be a mix of social backgrounds.” 

With a total of 8,000 students, LAU limits 

its population of foreign students to 

20%. Even with this restriction, they represent 

86 different nationalities. 

“We have a six-week program for 

American and European students to study 

Arabic and learn about the region,” says Dr. 

Jabbra. “Last year we had 112 students taking 

this program, and this year there have 

been more.” 

LAU has seven schools offering degrees 

in arts and sciences, business, pharmacy, 

engineering, architecture and design, medicine 

and nursing. 

Dr. Jabbra says the School of Pharmacy 

is the only one with American accreditation 

outside the U.S. The School of Engineering, 

he adds, cannot graduate enough engineers 

to satisfy demand; the School of 

Architecture and Design is the best in the 

region; and the School of Medicine has an 

association with Harvard. 

“We have very high standards. We are 

planning growth to increase our enrollment 

to 10,000 students, and I see LAU taking 

its place in the constellation of the best institutions 

around the world,” he says. 

LAU was originally established as Mrs. 

Smith’s Beirut Female Academy in 1835 by 

Sarah Smith – an American Protestant 

missionary who lived in Lebanon when 

Beirut was part of the Ottoman Empire – 

and it became known as the region’s best 

women’s boarding school. 

In 1924, the school started a two-year 

junior college curriculum and became 

known as the American Junior College for 

Women. By 1949 it was renamed the 

Beirut College for Women (BCW). 

Two years later, the Board of Regents of 

the University of the State of New York 

continued on page 9 

LAU 

A Harvard Business 

School Model of 

Educational 

Entrepreneurship 

In the 21st century, where 

innovation and productivity rule 

the day, human capital is key to 

prosperity. Hence, parents worldwide 

look for organizations that 

deliver first-class education to 

their children. One such organization 

is SABIS ® , with more than 

120 years of experience in education; 

a global network of 

schools in 15 countries; and more 

than 56,000 students. 

Since its founding in 1886 in 

Lebanon, SABIS has understood 

that education thrives through 

best practices that apply to 

dynamic economic sectors. That 

is why SABIS regards education as 

a business, applying accountability 

at all levels and scrutinizing 

efficiency and costs – continually 

improving perennial essentials 

that empower students to face 

the challenges of an ever-changing 

world. SABIS measures success 

by the value added to each 

student’s academic skills and 

social responsibility. 

The SABIS educational model 

is more than words. In the U.S., 

the organization started a private 

school in Minneapolis in 

1985. In 1995, it was granted its 

first charter school. Today, SABIS 

operates eight charter schools in 

five states. Two additional charter 

schools are operated under 

license from SABIS in New York 

City. Applying patented teaching 

methods and management practices, 

SABIS has enabled almost 

all its American students from all 

backgrounds to attend universities 

and succeed in higher education. 

In fact, SABIS was recently 

the focus of a Harvard Business 

School case study that showcases 

its strategic growth targets. 

The case study illustrates SABIS as 

a model for business school students 

learning about global 

entrepreneurial ventures.


Advancing American 

higher education in 

the heart of the 

Middle East. 

At 

our two campuses 

in Beirut 

and Byblos, Lebanon, ideas 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost 

8,000 

students 

enrolled 

in bachelor’s, master’s, 

doctorate and special 

degree programs are taught to value 

freedom and participation. 

We 

are an enterprising 

rising i 

institution that appreciates 

leader 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

political and economic omic challenges of today’s Middle East. 

Our seven schools 

and 17 specialized centers 

and in 

stitutes provide an 

abundance of opportunities 

ties 

for study, research and training. 

School of Arts and Sciences 

The 

School 

of 

Arts 

and 

Sciences 

is home 

to 

LAU’s oldest 

programs, 

which form the core 

of 

the university’s liberal 

arts 

tradition. 

It offers 

programs 

ranging 

from 

theater 

and 

media 

arts to 

computer 

sciences and 

math, including 

all 

major 

sciences 

as 

well 

as 

humanities 

and 

social sciences. 

School of Architecture 

and Design 

Our 

School 

of 

Architecture 

and 

Design 

boasts 

world-class lass 

graphic 

design, 

interior design 

 

 

 

 

program enjoys international tional recognition. 

School of Business 

Our 

School 

of 

Business, one of the oldest 

in 

the 

region, 

offers fer 

programs ranging from 

hospitality 

 

 

 

 

 

economics. 

Its graduates are among the most 

sought-after professionals 

in 

the 

whole 

region 

thanks 

to 

its 

well 

established 

reputation, 

and 

innovative offerings 

in 

family 

business 

and 

in 

Islamic banking. 

School of Engineering 

Our 

School 

of 

Engineering 

has 

rapidly 

established shed 

itself 

as 

a 

prime 

quality 

school 

that offers the 

whole 

range 

of 

engineering 

disciplines 

in 

an 

innovative 

approach 

with 

small 

class 

sizes, 

independent 

studies 

and 

undergraduate raduate research. 

Gilbert and Rose-Marie 

Chagoury School of Medicine 

Our new 

School of Medicine is one of the few 

medical 

schools worldwide to offer a completely 

integrated ted 

and 

patient-centered 

curriculum. 

It is 

set to 

become 

a 

major 

regional 

and 

 

 

 

 

faculty, students, and world-class facilities. 

School of Pharmacy 

Our School of 

Pharmacy offers quality 

bachelor's 

and doctoral programs. 

Its 

reputed Pharm.D. 

remains 

the 

only 

ACPE-accredited program 

outside of the United States. 

Alice Ramez Chagoury School 

of Nursing 

The School 

of Nursing, due to open in 2010, will 

offer an 

innovative 

curriculum aligned with the 

highest 

international 

standards 

and 

includes 

joint and integrated 

components 

with 

the 

schools s of medicine and pharmacy. 

Beirut Campus . 

 

www.lau.edu.lb


LEBANON 

PROMOTION 

9 

continued from page 7 

granted it a provisional charter and authorized 

it to bestow a Bachelor of Arts degree, 

requiring a four-year term. In 1955, the 

board granted BCW an absolute charter 

with all attendant rights and privileges, 

including the authority to also issue a 

Bachelor of Science degree. 

In 1973, having accepted men into some 

programs, the college changed its name to 

Beirut University College, and in 1992 it 

became a known as the Lebanese American 

University. Today it has approximately 

28,000 alumni. 

Last year the country’s other internationally 

acknowledged university, the American 

University of Beirut (AUB), became the first 

to gain accreditation for its business school 

from AACSB International, the longestserving 

global accreditation body for business 

schools that offer undergraduate, 

master’s and doctoral degrees in business 

and accounting. AUB was established in 

Lebanon in 1866. 

Another educational establishment in 

Lebanon with a long history is the 

International School of Choueifat, situated 

in a suburb southeast of Beirut. 

With roots dating back to 1886, the 

school was the first member of what is 

now an international network of 75 charter 

schools. They are run by SABIS ® , an 

education-system organization committed 

to preparing students for university-level 

study by providing a fundamental mastery 

of the educational building blocks through 

a program of academic rigor. 

SABIS Educational Services was established 

in Beirut in 1993. With regional corporate 

offices in Beirut and in Minnesota 

“Starmanship is 

changing the way 

business is done in the 

Middle East.” 

Raja Haddad, 

Starmanship & Associates 

in the U.S., it now runs schools in Africa, 

the Persian Gulf, the Middle East, North 

Africa and Asia, and it has 58,000 students, 

says Ralph Bistany, a co-founder of the 

organization. 

“SABIS is a for-profit international educational 

organization with a philosophy 

quite different from that of most other educational 

organizations. We are aggressively 

promoting the idea that only when 

education becomes accepted as another 

industry will it evolve in the right direction.” 

One of Lebanon’s newest educational 

institutions is the Lebanese German 

University (LGU). Only two years old, 

LGU will produce its first graduating class 

in 2011. As a relatively new arrival to the 

education scene, says Dean Edgard Rizk, 

LGU will have the competitive advantage of 

being able to make fast decisions unburdened 

by a long system of bureaucratic rules 

and regulations. 

Founded by the Lebanese-German 

Association for the Promotion of Culture, 

a nonprofit NGO, LGU has developed 

extensive collaborations with European universities 

and offers students easy transfer to 

such institutions. 

“We offer multidimensional acquisition 

of knowledge while promoting exposure to 

the vibrant Middle Eastern and European 

cultural mix,” says Rizk. 

Study courses are in English, but courses 

are also available in German and Arabic. 

The Lebanese-German Association has 

been involved in the education sector for 

more than 35 years. In 1974, it founded 

the Technical Institute of Paramedical 

Sciences, which since has graduated more 

than 2,500 students in the field of health 

care. 

“Emphasis is placed upon individual 

potential and the development of artistic 

and technical talents,” says Rizk. 

Beyond the academic institutions, local 

company Starmanship & Associates is 

meeting Lebanese businesses’ demand for 

methods of enhancing their human 

resources. 

In 1995, following the civil war, the 

nation’s workforce had to readjust to the 

peacetime pressures of reconstruction. 

Recognizing the need 

for retraining and human capital 

development, Raja Haddad 

created Starmanship. 

Knowledge of how to perform 

tasks is essential, but it’s not 

enough, Haddad says. 

Starmanship’s training courses 

are geared to help staff enjoy 

their work through the discovery 

of latent talents. “We’ve noticed that 

after 15 years, we’ve really made a difference. 

People have changed their perceptions. 

They have established new companies, 

grown as individuals, changed their jobs 

and been promoted,” he says. 

Based on the company’s success, Haddad 

plans to expand to Saudi Arabia. 

“Starmanship is changing the way business 

is done in the Middle East,” he says. ❖


12 LEBANON PROMOTION 

Interior detail of 

boutique hotel Le Gray 

“We reopened on July 10, 2006, and had 

two outstanding opening nights,” says 

Chafic el Khazen, president of Sky 

Management, the company that created Sky 

Bar. “But the war with Israel started two 

days later and forced us to close down.” 

Sky Bar reopened in 2007, and now it regularly 

attracts 2,000 people every night, says 

el Khazen. His future plans include opening 

new venues and remodeling Sky Bar. His 

company has already launched a Sky Beach 

resort and restaurant in Egypt. In Lebanon, 

Sky Management plans to open a winter 

club later this year and a beach club in the 

summer of 2011. It is also considering the 

possibility of other projects in Europe. 

“By welcoming international artists to Sky 

Bar, warmly greeting tourists from all over 

the globe and being nominated as the 

number-one bar by World’s Best Bars, we 

are, in a way, trying to change the world’s 

perception of Lebanon,” he says. “We are 

working on spreading our culture of love 

and positive energy to replace the war 

image.” 

El Khazen concedes, however, that 

Lebanon’s turbulent history is part of the 

country’s appeal. “The day we have stability, 

Lebanon will lose some of its charm,” 

he admits. “We live in what could be 

described as organized chaos, and this is 

what makes Lebanon a dynamic experience. 

But there is undoubtedly one inherent trait 

that we would like to be recognized for, and 

that is the joie de vivre that is a common 

quality in all Lebanese.” 

If Sky Bar reflects the country’s latest 

lifestyle trends, the Casino du Liban 

“Lebanon has 

become the 

capital of 

beauty in the 

Middle East.” 

represents Lebanon’s iconic reputation as 

the location of the largest and most famous 

gambling and theatrical venue in the 

Middle East. 

Situated in Jounieh, a resort town ten 

miles north of Beirut, the casino, which is 

celebrating its 50th anniversary, experienced 

a 30% increase in its gross gaming revenues 

last year for the second year running. 

With an average daily attendance of some 

Dr. Nader Saab 

3,500 people, it is facing limits on its capacity 

and has plans to expand. To cope with 

the demand, the casino recruited 200 dealers 

so that it could increase its gaming table 

hours, but business improved so much that 

it again reached its capacity and needs to 

triple its space – a feat that will place it 

among the largest casinos in the world. 

The company’s challenge is fulfilling its 

growth potential as it endeavors to become 

the Las Vegas of the Middle East. In order 

to improve liquidity and provide tax incentives, 

the casino company is planning to be 

re-listed on the Beirut Stock Exchange. 

The country is also becoming a regional 

hub for cosmetic surgery. “Lebanon has 

become the capital of beauty in the Middle 

East,” says Dr. Nader Saab, an internationally 

eminent Lebanese plastic surgeon. 

While the majority of the patients at his 

clinic are women, more men are taking 

advantage of the benefits of cosmetic treatments, 

he says. 

“Men have treatments in order 

to look better and feel as attractive 

as the women they are with,” says 

Dr. Saab. He has developed 

advanced nonsurgical procedures 

for some cosmetic improvements, 

including the rejuvenation of 

hands. 

Lebanon’s Ministry of Tourism 

has awarded his clinic a Shield of 

Honour in appreciation of its contribution 

to the development of cosmetic tourism. 

On top of all its other lifestyle attractions, 

Lebanon offers one other noteworthy element: 

significantly lower costs for services 

than in many countries. “In comparison 

with Europe, I think we are about 40% less 

expensive for the same quality services,” 

says Fadi Abboud, the country’s minister of 

tourism. ❖ 

Meedo Tha

Forbes: Leaders In Learning - Mar 29, 2010 - Starmanship ...

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