Consumer products boom ongoing

Economic data for Libya suggests that the economy is not doing so bad.
For Austria, our exports for the first quarter 2013  suggests, that we will have a new record in our exports to Libya. Even higher than the previous peak in 2010. Interestingly, this time consumer products, tools and light machinery and pharmaceuticals dominate our exports. WIth consumer products one can observe new products on a weekly basis.
Tools and construction materials are needed to fulfill demand in the equally booming private construction sector. With so much money around, liquidity is being absorbed not by the banking systems (people do not trust banks) but by housing. Even though those houses remain empty after construction, the firm believe is, that there, money is safe. But for how long will this boom last ?
Well, only for few years....  

No Gelatina in front of our office

During the last weeks / months there had been some security reports in Tripoli and surrounding. Nothing to worry about "just small bombs" or "little gelatina" (gelatina is used by local fisherman to fish. it is just thrown into the sea, explodes, and what comes up to the  see is being collected).
So as you can see, nothing really to worry about. In case of the French Embassy there had been a miscalculation. Apparently.
However, we have taken additional measures. As of now on car bombers will find it even more difficult to put their car in front of your office.
Oh, by the way, our neighbours, the Tunisians had this measure since long ago. And the Tchadis are protected in a different manner...

Austrian presence at Libya Build

Libya Build is by far the most professinal fair of the country.It is a pitty it is limited to the construction industry.
Austria wanted to participate at this fair already in 2011 , but then a small revolution came in between. However, this year we managed to motivate 16 companies to come to Libya and exhibit their products in hope for future business. Already three days before the fair opened, our pavillion was ready. To the complete surprise of my colleagues from Vienna.
So there we are, at Libya Build 2013. Very nicely located in hall number one, just some meters away from the main entrance.
We even brought famous "Johann Strauss", the father of Austrian Waltz, with us. Some people stop and ask who the guy is. Some even wnt to know if we still met him (the answer is "no", we are all, even together, to young for that).
If you are interested beforehand which Austrian companies are present, please visit the online catalogue under http://www.advantageaustria.org/ly/events/libya_build_2013.en.html

Ahlan wa sahlan !

"Zintan is problem"

One of the rare times when I heard "mushkila" (problem) without the "mafish" (not) as a prefix, happened when I wanted to go from Wamis (Northwest of Mizdah) towards Zintan. According to my various maps there should be a road, and also the mountains of Zintan could easily be seen. But the people from Wamis (from the tribe of the Mashashias) told us various times "Zintan mushkila",  and explaining later on that they had just, a couple of days ago, exchanged some bullets, rockets and alike.
So it was not very wise to use the road from Wamis to Zintan, as the people from Zintan could take our car as belonging to Wamis. They would not hesitate shooting at it.
I believed the people from Wamis and thanked them for their friendly advise. Before leaving they still showed  us the highlight of their town, namely a collection of recent leftovers...

Excursion to Gharian

One can not really say  that the surrounding of Tripoli is boring. Totally the contrary. Just that fr many foreigners security restrictions hinder them to visit spots such as, for example, Gharian. The first town up in the mountains (Jebel Nafusa) offers astonishing views northwards, direction Tripoli, and sometimes when the sky is cool and clear, even up to the sea.
But also the "Friday Market" is well worth a visit. Very colourful, authentic and you can even by falcons.
well, at least this is what I thought. However, a friend when I showed him the picture, said it was rather a pigeon. But no doubt this is something wilder than a pigeon. And for 30 Libyan Dinars it could be yours.

Wadi ZemZem

 Quite hidden in the middle of nowhere (actually between Misrata and Beni Walid) lies the Wadi ZemZem. AIt is a wadi that had been cultivated since many centuries. One can see a lot of agricultural activity and also some activity that happened after the revolution:
It was here, that Saif Al-Islam and his convoy got hit by NATO when he tried to flee from Beni Walid. Thus it was also the place where he allegedly lost his fingers. If you look carefully while driving through the valley, you cannot miss the remainders of the convoy.

A Trip to Tunisia

Djerba: only 300 kms from Tripoli away, used to be a favourite weekend spot for foreigners in Tripoli. Driving time was somewhere between 3hrs (my personal record is 2:55) and 5hrs. Depending how traffic was and, more important, how long border control took you. Especially the latter has become a nightmare. My last trip dates back two weeks and was supposed to be a relaxing golf weekend.
First the positive news: On the libyan part of the road, many road checkpoints have disappeared, or have been converted into real military, police or customs checkpoints. Gone are the days were you were stopped by young guys with flip-flops, a t-shirt and a kalashnikov. Now all the guys are uniformed and look like they belonged to a government force.
However, arriving at the border, mayhem starts. On the libyan side, still everything ok, except for the fact that Tunisian cars line up for hundreds of meters. Arriving in the "noman´s land" only the stronger survives: a potpourri of trucks, drivers, passengers all try to get through a gate on the Tunisian side where only one car a time passes. Of course there are cars and trucks that try to get there from positions you would not have imagined a car could go there.
Oh, yes, it is funny to observe and listen to the officials on the Libyan side of the border, blaming the Tunisians for the big mess, and telling me that they are a weird type of nation, and hearing the same stuff about the Libyans on the other side of the border. I still try to figure out who is right.
After one has passed Tunisian customs and immigration control, the slow trip (due to heavy traffic) towards the island continues. If you are lucky, you reach, as I did, Djerba after six hours.

Misrata Port in action

Misrata is always worth a trip. For me it is always a good indicator how the Libyan economy is doing, as it is the biggest port of Libya. And its people have always been more progressive, independent and looking forward than the rest of Libya. This time I only went to the harbor, but already on the way there I could see the big changes that have taken place in Zliten, around 30 kilometers before Misrata. Now, don´t expect any miracles, but the town looks tidy, cleaned up and organized. And this impression does not change until you get to Misrata. No piles of trash lying around and also most remainders of the fighting which took place here, have been removed.
The harbor is working normally, cranes unloading cargo and putting it on trailers. Below you can see Austrian whitewood being unloaded, most likely arriving from the Slovenian port of Kopa (no, austria does not have its own port). If you want to see Austrian white wood by yourself, just watch out for the blue paint. This is the typical branding of Austrian producers. However, recently I discovered some wood from Slovenia also being painted blue and thus pretending it was Austrian.

In one area the port is even being renovated and some docks built in addition.
Congratulations, Misrata !

Series: Famous golf courses of Libya, part II - Mudi GC

After reviewing Ghargharesh Golf Club we continue our tour towards Zawiah, where we find Mudi Golf Club. This is actually the only Golf Course I would consider getting somewhere (and really only somewhere) close to what is called a golf course in the rest of the world. It is actually a farm where some olive trees have been cut to make way for 9 wholes that all have a "brown", made out of sand, instead of a green.
The owner, Mr.Mudi, himself an oil engineer, had the idea of putting up the course and installing a driving range. During the last few years and up to today Mudi GC remains the only driving range in Libya. A bucket of balls is 5 LYD (3 EUR) and if you don´t watch out, you might hit a turkey, a hen or an ostrich off the tee. Although on my last visit I did not see the ostriches any longer.
Mr.Mudi is a bit sad, as business is completely down. Sometimes some Koreans drop by, but otherwise business is dead. He calculates that the revolution has cost him at least 200.000 - 300.000 Dinars. But he adds that it was worth every penny.
With some foreigners returning, he might upgrade the course and do what he planned to do already in 2011 and 2012.
Good luck Mr.Mudi !

How to get there ?
Drive towards Zawiah, about 5 kms before entering into Zawia you find a sign n the main road saying "Mudi Golf" and an arrow indicating a turn to the left. Enter the road for about 500 meters and you will get to Mr.Mudis farm.

Spot the difference

Can you spot the difference ?
Hint 1:  It is not the price
Hint 2: Only one of the two is healthy
Hint 3: One is produced in Austria under strict health guidelines
Hint 4: Only one of the two gives wings ;-)

Make your own license plate

 You bought a car recently ?
Congratulations ! You did not manage to get your license plates printed ?
Well, you are probably not alone as thousands of other Libyans also struggle to get their new license plates from a factory that can not cope with the huge demand for new registrations.
The bottleneck comes exactly at that point where you are nearly finished with all the procedures.  So why not make your own license plate ?

In any case better than driving around with a Swiss, or German plate.

So here is an easy "Do-It-Yourself" explanation:

1. Take the number from your car book
2. Print the number out, followed by the word "Libya" in Arabic letters"
3. Cut the paper and plastify it

4. READY TO GO !

Gadaffi´s sons´ villas in Regatta

Well, there is not so much left of all the former houses of Saif-Al-Islam Sadi and Hannibal in Regatta. It used to be an area of Regatta where you could not get very close to. When one of the sons were there, you could were already controlled very thoroughly at the entrance. Coming closer to the houses was not easy, jogging, the security personnel would let you get as close as to see one of the Eastern European beauties sun-tanning on the beach.
These days the villas are still visited by some "Thuars" - provided they are being let in by the guards at the entrance. On one of the parking lots of the villas, one could still see that apparently the Romans were "en vogue" and so were also replicas of roman statues (see picture below).

Some people still enjoy the place and happen to organize picknicks there during the weekends.

Libya Build 2013

In my opinion Libya Build has always been best fair in Libya. Already in 2012 ATEX, the organiser, opened its doors again for the revival of the fair. Many countries organized a national pavillion, though 2013 will break a record.
According to an interview by The Libya Report with the CEO of ATEX, Maged Mahfoud, 630 exhibitors from 25 different countries are expected to attend.
And guess what ?
Austria will be there as well! 16 companies registered. If you want to have a preview of those companies coming, please visit
http://www.advantageaustria.org/ly/events/libya_build_2013.participants.en.html
Hopefully it will be the start of old projects as well.

EU Meeting in Tripoli

The European Union consists of 27 countries.
Some of them small, others large,
some rich, others not so rich,
some are under the ESF, others have a budget surplus.
Some joined Schengen, others have the Euro, some have both.
And in Tripoli, like in many other non-EU countries, we meet regularily in order to discuss matters of common interest.
At least in theory. We have some colleagues in that round that share more information than others. During the last meeting some of the group´s anchors were missing as they were on holiday or on a business meeting. From the remaining group (in numbers we were still many), nobody really wanted to share any information, so I guess I had a big share of the total speaking time.
It seemed like a group of hyenas, one observing and waiting for the other.
I hope this remains a one time observation....

Austrian milk arrived in supermarkets

Austrian milk from the heart of the Alps arrived to Libya. We know already from a couple of Austrian producers that have shipped milk into the country where only few cows can be found. However, it is the first tetra pack that I physically hold in my hands.
I guess I don´t have to lose any word about the quality of Austrian milk. But why all of a sudden into Libya ? Well, retail keeps being king in Libya. In our office we receive many businessmen (or "wannabes") who ask about Austrian producers who do not have their Libyan agent yet. A good percentage of those simply want to get their share of the money involved and do not have any experience. Though quite some, on the other hand, can show a good track record and have, in addition, some other brands in their portfolio.
It will be interesting how Monoprix (and other supermarket chain projects that are in the pipeline) will change the landscape.

Did you ever wonder what happened to Regatta ? Over two years after you have lived there and left from one day to the other ?
The good news first: You don´t have to worry about your things anymore. There is absolutely NOTHING of it left anymore. Although 90% of the houses are not inhabited anymore and Zintanis have moved out from the houses, time has erased all physical memory.
And now the bad news: Regatta is not yet ready for you to move back in again. Some houses (most of the new former Repsol houses for instance) have been repainted and quickly renovated, but the vast majourity remain empty and are in urgent need of renovation. However, since the new year, some cleaning up activity can be noticed.
And for those of you who used to sit in the seaside pizzeria and waited for at least one hour for your pizza to come - I guess you recognized the restaurant again on the first picture.

Austrian Soft Drinks

Libya is one of the first few countries that has adopted and put into practice the new international regulation about selling soft drinks in restaurants. The rule goes that in case you offer Austrian drinks, which by any means are superior to their competitors from other countries, you should clearly point them out to your customers.
Thus, the restaurant "Chateau" on Ghargharesh has fulfilled international standards and clearly differentiated Austrian soft drinks from the rest. Due to their high quality they could easily be sold for double the price of their competitors. However, Chateau is selling them at a real bargain of only a 1/2 Dinar higher price.
;-)

GECOL and the Electricity Network in Libya

Something is moving in Libya. At least in the electricity sector. Those living in Libya will have noticed hat blackouts have become much less frequent. The winter before was a nightmare: cold, dark and no sign of improvement. During last summer daily shortcuts were also common. Three international companies, Alstom, ABB and Siemens are servicing the "General Electricity Company" also called "GECOL" and are trying to make the network more reliable. The next big test will be in summer, when aircondition units will test the maximum capacity of the network.
On the pictures you can see the main storage facility for french Alstom, I just happened to bump into it. But don´t worry my french friends, your secret location is safe with me...
And readers form GECOL: Did anybody tell you that I got really annoyed after you cut electricity at my home for not paying my bill within a week after delivery of the invoice ?
 '*§$%& 

Cheap copper

Seven USD / Kilo, this was today´s quote for copper on the world markets. Well, not so bad if you have a  couple of hundred kilos. During the early days after the revolution copper cables were dug out of different areas of Tripoli. I did not see copper thieves since quite some months, but apparently somebody knew exactly where to dig in order to find the precious metal.

If some of the copper cables where responsible for Internet and/or telephones I now know why the reliability is so poor.

Thuwar from Mansur

How could I forget! I promised the two men from Mansur (Tripoli) that they would be present on my blog. I met them during a walk through the Tripoli neighbourhood of Mansur, already some weeks ago. They thought I was a journalist as I was walking around with my camera and so they insisted I must take a photo of them. They said they played a majour role in toppling the Gadaffi regime in 2011.
Well, that´s what I call a real discovery of some Tripoli Thuwars !
(For those of you unfamilar with the expression Thuwar: It is the Libyan-Arabic expression for the opposition fighters during the revolution.)