Talks Already Under Way
Tarek Mneimneh, Lebanon's ambassador to the UAE, says Emirati investors are "more than welcome" in Lebanon and that early discussions are already happening. "There is appetite, and there is momentum," he told The National in an interview in Abu Dhabi. "There have been some talks, and those talks will continue and will grow with time."
Mneimneh named ports, airports and digital governance as the areas where Emirati expertise could land first, describing Lebanon as "almost a greenfield in many sectors". He said interest spans both private investors and the governmental level.
He was also direct about the conditions attached. "The Lebanese leadership is aware that a sophisticated investor would require some guarantees or some foundations to invest in a country or in a project," he said, pointing to reforms and stronger regulatory and security frameworks as the work now in progress in Beirut.
Why the Door Is Opening Now
His comments came days after the UAE lifted a weeks-long ban on Emirati travel to Lebanon, imposed during the Iran war. The mood in Abu Dhabi shifted after Lebanon, the US and Israel signed a trilateral framework in Washington in late June, designed as a pathway toward restoring full Lebanese state control and disarming non-state actors.
President Sheikh Mohamed and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah both spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam after the signing. "The message conveyed is one: the UAE stands with Lebanon. And two, it's a message of trust," Mneimneh said.
The Al Habtoor Question
Confidence is not automatic. Khalaf Al Habtoor, chairman of Al Habtoor Group, cancelled all planned investments in Lebanon earlier this year, citing "lack of security and stability and the lack of a horizon for improvement in the near future". Mneimneh said both Al Habtoor and Emaar founder Mohamed Alabbar remain welcome, and that Lebanon offers "a lot of opportunities".
A Business Council in Formation
One concrete step is the planned UAE-Lebanon Business Council, announced during Aoun's visit to Abu Dhabi. Lebanon has already appointed its members, and the UAE is in the process of appointing its own, according to Mneimneh. The council's job will be preparing the private sector, identifying investment opportunities and channeling Emirati capital into Lebanese projects.
Tourism Faces a Harder Summer
The travel file shows how fragile the recovery is. About 25,000 Emiratis visited Lebanon before this year's ban, according to Maroun Daher of Lebanon's Association of Travel and Tourist Agents, and visitor numbers fell by roughly half after last June's 12-day war between Israel and Iran. "If we reach 10,000 visitors by the end of the summer, that would be an accomplishment," Daher said, noting the ban was lifted late, flights are fully booked and security concerns persist.
Lebanon's financial collapse, unresolved since 2019, is the backdrop to all of it. The country needs external capital to rebuild, and the Gulf is where it is looking first.
