Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb signed a $6.4 million loan agreement with the World Bank, aimed at supporting the ministry in launching an NGO to train youths wishing to establish technology startups.
Dubbed “Mobile Internet Ecosystem Project,” the project costs $12.8 million and will be financed by the government in addition to the loan.
“This project will provide Lebanese youths with new opportunities in addition to contributing to strengthening the national economy,” Harb said. Feriad Belhaj, World Bank director of the Middle East Department, said the project is the first of its kind in Lebanon.
“It aims at turning Lebanon into a technology producer and not only a consumer, by developing an ecosystem for the creation of mobile applications,” he said. “Its objective is to turn Beirut into a technological hub in a bid to establish new companies and create job opportunities.”
The Daily Stars
25 February
