WEC Lebanon holds Beirut Energy Forum

The 5th Beirut Energy Forum was held from 17 to 19 September in Beirut, Lebanon.

 

The Forum has become a landmark of the WEC Lebanon committee, gathering more than 850 attendees during the official opening ceremony. A total of 573 delegates from 31 countries, including 60 members of WEC Lebanon, attended the three-day Forum.

Beirut Energy Forum has established itself as one of the largest and most distinguished energy events of the Arab world. The event was held under the patronage and presence of the Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water, H.E. Mr. Arthur Nazarian, and the Minister of Industry, Dr Hussein Hajj Hassan. Ms Zulandi van der Westhuizen, WEC Deputy Director of Scenarios and Resources, gave a keynote speech on Lebanon’s national energy map in the WEC’s World Energy Issues Monitor.

BEF was a great platform to discuss financing mechanisms for sustainable energy projects in the region. Representatives from the Central Bank of Lebanon, the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) all spoke at the event.



The BEF gathered more than 82 speakers from the different parts of the energy sector. Representatives of both the public sectors and the private sectors from many countries had the chance to exchange experiences and build on common future challenges in the energy sector. The BEF was a beacon for discussion and negotiation towards a regional deep-dive approach for the Arab world.

Beirut Energy Forum 2014 also included five side events conducted in parallel with the main event. These events gathered a large number of professionals from different Arab countries upon invitation of the League of Arab States and the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE).

For the next BEF, planned for 9–11 September 2015, the WEC Lebanon committee is aspiring to have the Forum as a WEC regional flagship event for the Middle East.

Presentations from last month’s Beirut Energy Forum can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/BEF2014