Rasamny outlines plan to grow
revenues from ports and airports

Trains, planes, boats, and automobiles

Public Works and Transport Minister Fayez Rasamny outlined a plan to expand airports, seaports and transit links at a LeadersClub – by Lebanon Opportunities conference. Rasamny said the State will prioritize revenue-generating assets to secure non-tax income. Beirut port, which handles about 1.2 million containers a year, is targeted to reach 2.8 million. Tripoli port aims to grow from 250,000 containers to between 1.8 million and 2 million. The minister said Kleyat airport is scheduled to receive its first commercial flights by mid-November.

Rasamny said legal limits are the main obstacle. The Public Procurement Law caps concession contracts at four years, which he called unviable for major projects. Repeated Build-Operate-Transfer requests were removed from Cabinet agendas. He called for a dedicated body to modernize laws that are four to six decades old. He described an 85 percent public sector vacancy rate.

On transit, a State-supplied, privately run bus model has lifted ridership from zero to over 8,000 daily passengers. Solar-powered electric buses are planned for Greater Beirut. A 45-kilometer rail line from Tripoli to Abboudiyeh is also being revived, after 54 encroachments were cleared.