Posts and telecommunications have long played an essential role in Lebanon, a small country with an expansive diaspora, a vivid media landscape, and an economy geared toward trade and banking. The sector's history has nonetheless been chaotic, marked by conflict but also, and perhaps most importantly, a deeply rooted legacy of state control, weak competition, and intense politicization. A combination of poor services and high prices culminated in popular protests against the government's attempt, in October 2019, to tax the widely used messaging service WhatsApp. The anger this measure triggered captured a more general sense of dissatisfaction, and contributed to tipping the country into a protracted crisis. Civil unrest coincided with Lebanon's default on its ballooning debt; in the ensuing economic collapse, telecommunications have been among the infrastructure most affected.
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. As of 2014, Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the thirteenth-largest in the Arab world. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. Beirut has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.
Jounieh is a coastal city in Keserwan District, about 16 km (10 mi) north of Beirut, Lebanon. Since 2017, it has been the capital of Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate. Jounieh is known for its seaside resorts and bustling nightlife, as well as its old stone souk, ferry port, paragliding site and gondola lift, which takes passengers up the mountain to the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa.
A global business facilitator since 1979, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) is a prominent purpose-built convention and exhibition centre. DWTC provides a platform for connecting people, products, innovation and ideas from around the world through a dynamic calendar of international trade exhibitions and its own roster of sector leading mega events. As a designated free zone, complemented by award-winning commercial real estate, DWTC plays an integral role in Dubai and the region’s growth story with an estimated total economic output of AED 200 Billion, attracting over 30 million business visitors to Dubai over the past four decades.
Mount Lebanon Governorate is one of the nine governorates of Lebanon. Its capital is Baabda.
Banque du Liban is the central bank of Lebanon. It was established on August 1, 1963, and became fully operational on April 1, 1964. Wassim Mansouri stepped up as interim governor of the Banque du Liban after Lebanon failed to name a successor to Riad Salameh, whose term finished in July 2023.
Haret Hreik is a mixed Shia and Maronite Christian municipality, in the Dahieh suburbs, south of Beirut, Lebanon. It is part of the Baabda District. Once an agricultural village, Haret Hreik lost its rural identity due to the wave of refugees from Southern Lebanon who settled in the town and made it another urban neighborhood of Dahieh.
MaRS Discovery District is a not-for-profit corporation founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2000. Its stated goal is to commercialize publicly funded medical research and other technologies with the help of local private enterprises and as such is a public-private partnership. As part of its mission MaRS says, "MaRS helps create successful global businesses from Canada's science, technology and social innovation." As of 2014, startup companies emerging from MaRS had created more than 4,000 jobs, and in the period of 2011 to 2014 had raised over $750 million in capital investments.
One-north is a subzone of Queenstown, Singapore, first developed by JTC Corporation as the country's research and development and high technology cluster. It was first conceptualised in 1991 as part of the National Technology Plan and officially launched on 4 December 2001 by then Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan Keng Yam.
Nabil Gholam is a French-Lebanese architect, urban planner and the founder of Nabil Gholam Architects (ngª). In 2010, Monocle magazine has called Gholam a "leading" architect in Lebanon. In Modern Architecture: A Critical History, critic Kenneth Frampton cited Gholam's colony of holiday chalets at Faqra as one of "two works [which] promise a renewal of Lebanese architecture".
The Harry S Truman Building is the headquarters of the United States Department of State. It is located in Washington, D.C., and houses the office of the United States secretary of state.
The Petit Serail was a historic administrative Ottoman building in Beirut that housed the seat of the Wali of Syria and Beirut. It was situated to the northern side of Martyrs' Square at the heart of the Beirut Central District. The building was the scene of important historical events but plans to enlarge Beirut's main square led to its destruction in 1950. It was one of several Ottoman era building projects that shaped the architecture of Lebanon in Beirut.
Dubai Design District (d3) is a planned community in Dubai dedicated to the design, fashion, and culture community, including startups, entrepreneurs, and international design, luxury, and fashion brands. It was established in 2013. It is a TECOM Group freezone business park consisting of three phases, the first of which is 11 building offices, completed in 2016.
Beirut II is an electoral district in Beirut, Lebanon, as per the 2017 vote law. The district elects 11 members of the Lebanese National Assembly - 6 Sunnis, 2 Shias, 1 Druze, 1 Greek Orthodox, 1 Evangelical.
Samer Karam is a Lebanese entrepreneur, investor, author, and activist. He founded Seeqnce, the first startup accelerator in Lebanon, created the Accelerate conference, and has had a leading role in building Lebanon's startup ecosystem and promoting, advising, mentoring, and investing in startup ecosystems across the world. World renowned tech journalist Monty Munford said Karam is "probably the most influential tech person across the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region."
Philippe Khalil Ziade is a Lebanese-American entrepreneur and the honorary consul of Lebanon in Nevada. He is the founder and chairman of Las-Vegas based Growth Holdings. Ziade is engaged in Lebanese politics and expat affairs.
Dubai Silicon Oasis known as DSO is a free-trade zone established by the Dubai government in 2003, spanning an area of 7.2 square kilometers. It is located in the Nadd Hessa community in Dubai.
Voting to elect eleven members of the Lebanese parliament took place in the Beirut II district on 6 May 2018, part of the general election of that year. The constituency had 353,164, out of whom 143,829 voted. Residents elect 6 Sunnis, 2 Shias, 1 Druze, 1 Greek Orthodox and 1 Evangelical.
