Excerpts: Remittances from Lebanese working abroad.Expensive Dubai.24 March
2007

THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 24 March 2007:"World Bank puts 2006 remittances
at $5.6 billion.Expatriates play key economic supporting role",By Osama
Habib,Daily Star staff
QUOTE FROM TEXT:"Lebanese rxpatriates are one of Lebanon's biggest assets"
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EXCERPTS:
BEIRUT: Central Bank governor Riad Salameh underlined the important role
played by Lebanese expatriates when he said on March 23 that annual
remittances in 2006 alone reached $5.6 billion, or 25.8 percent of GDP. The
figures were released by the World Bank in its last report on Lebanon.
Forty-five percent of the remittances come from the Gulf, where more than
400,000 Lebanese work, Salameh said.
[IMRA: Of the 9 million Lebanese who work abroad , the 400,000 working in
the Gulf provide 45% of the remittances Thus, less than 5% of Lebanese
workers abroad provide 45% of of the reimittances.]

It is estimated that nine million Lebanese live abroad, with the bulk of
them are based in South America.But ...Lebanese in South America hardly send
any money to Lebanon because they have lost contacts with their relatives. .
. ....Lebanon is ranked among the top countries in the world in terms of
remittances compared to the GDP ratio. . . .annual cash flow from Lebanese
expatriates improves the balance of payments and stimulates the economy.
"The Lebanese expatriates are one of Lebanon's biggest assets," ... Lebanese
expatriates are now using their money to buy houses and land.
Sarrouh said that remittances have always been and always will be the
biggest support for the local economy.
Many local banks are offering special housing loans to Lebanese expatriates,
especially those who live in the Gulf.
A banker said that most of the Lebanese expatriates in the Arab Gulf region
eventually return to Lebanon.

+++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 24 March 24 2007:"Heat in the Kitchen",Tariq A.
Al-Maeena
QUOTE FROM TEXT:"Dubai's biggest nightmare would be if the Saudis
liberalized some of their laws and made the place more business-friendly"

EXCERPTS: (Journalist's report)
...The immediate consensus was that Dubai is very expensive, the streets and
roads are crowded and there is too much glitz without substance. ....
One such Dubai-based journalist expanded on the common woes faced by many of
the residents. ... he was recently forced to send his family back home due
to rising rents and school fees. The separation from family had an
unsettling effect on him. Added to that, he said, were the trials on the
road when getting back and forth to work. On a good day, it took him two and
a half hours going in one direction. The extra five hours daily added to his
work time, compounded by the absence of his loved ones had forced him to
make up his mind. He was quitting his job at the end of May and heading back
home.... Unless one was an Emirati or a highly paid Western executive,
living in Dubai was shrinking most of an expatriate's resources.
... the prevailing situation was making nearby countries, with all their
restrictions, far more attractive. Rising prices along with escalating rents
were forcing many to take that decision.... Dubai's biggest nightmare would
be if the Saudis liberalized some of their laws and made the place more
business-friendly. That would draw more of the multinationals currently
based in Dubai to the largest market in the region.. . .
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA