Word: libya
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...shouldn't bet on an easy run in Libya. In fact, American firms are late to the scramble for the country's riches. If they look out their hotel windows, they will see crews from Korean, Turkish and Italian companies building luxury seaside towers, including an Intercontinental Hotel; a Starwood Four Points and a Marriott hotel are scheduled to open next year. U.S. businesses are not expected to seal any deals this week; with few contacts, they are focusing on just breaking the ice with Libyans. "This is a get-to-know-Libya trip," says Gene Cretz, the first...
...Libya has been shut off from the U.S. for decades - starting in 1981, when President Ronald Reagan banned Americans from traveling to the country because of Libya's support for terrorist organizations, and then through subsequent U.S. sanctions. But on Saturday, Feb. 20, 25 American executives arrived in Libya to see if they can do business. U.S. Commerce Department officials set up two large cardboard signs decorated with the American flag in the lobby of Tripoli's swank Corinthia Hotel. Little U.S. and Libyan flags intertwined in a display on a welcome desk, alongside brochures explaining to Libyans what each...
...firms have good reason to rush to Libya. The oil-rich nation is sitting atop a giant cash surplus, with foreign reserves of nearly $140 billion. Muammar Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya for four decades and was once described by Ronald Reagan as "the mad dog of the Middle East," has said he intends to spend a lot of that money overhauling his country's creaking infrastructure, which was barely updated through more than two decades of international embargoes. (U.S. sanctions were lifted in 2004 following Libya's abandonment of its nuclear weapons program.) (See pictures of Colonel Gaddafi...
...disconnect is deep. When the U.S. declared its embargo against Libya in the '80s, Gaddafi banned all teaching of English in schools, as well as English-language books and movies. Libyan children have long been taught that the U.S. is their enemy. "Only 10 years ago, we were in outright confrontation with the West," says Youssef Sawani, executive director of the Gaddafi Development Foundation, a hugely powerful body headed by Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam. "It will take some time to change...
...around the clock by uniformed police. When I tried to pay a visit to the family over the weekend, three Libyan police officers outside the high, bolted gates blocked the way, ordering me to leave. U.S. companies hope they might have an easier time breaking down the barriers in Libya...