VZCZCXRO5620
RR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHTRO #0365/01 1241402
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041402Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4783
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 1461
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 0810
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0933
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 0874
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 5313

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TRIPOLI 000365 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, COMMERCE FOR NATE MASON, ENERGY FOR GINA ERIKSON, (NATHAN MASON), ADVOCACY CTR (REITZA), AND CLDP (TEJTEL AND 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EIND EINV EPET ENRG ETRD PGOV LY
SUBJECT: LIBYA COMMERCIAL ROUND-UP FOR APRIL 2009 
 
ENERGY 
 
¶1. (U) ExxonMobil Set to Prequalify Firms for Libyan Seismic 
Work: ExxonMobil Libya will prequalify contractors for a 2D 
seismic data acquisition and onboard processing services program 
offshore Libya. The data acquisition will begin in the fourth 
quarter of 2009. [MEED, 4/1/2009] 
 
¶2. (U) IPS Signs Contract with Waha in Libya: Invensys Process 
Systems (IPS), a global technology, software and consulting 
firm, signed a contract with Waha Oil Company (company owned by 
Libya's National Oil Corporation in a joint venture with 
ConocoPhillips, Marathon and Amerada Hess) to provide 
comprehensive automation upgrades at the company's oil fields. 
These services and solutions will enable Waha Oil to increase 
production, as well as grant access to centralized, real-time 
information that will reduce operating and production costs. IPS 
is the leading automation company in Libya. [Exploration & 
Production Magazine, 4/1/2009] 
 
¶3. (U) China's CNPC Eyeing Petro-Canada Assets: Top Chinese oil 
firm China National Petroleum Corporation announced its interest 
in purchasing $5 billion of assets held by Petro-Canada in Syria 
and Libya. Canadian companies Petro-Canada and Suncor Energy are 
in the process of merging and any discussions regarding the 
future plans of Petro-Canada and Suncor will have to wait until 
the merger is completed. Despite the financial crisis, Chinese 
state-backed oil giants are aggressively scouring Africa and 
South America for energy assets to secure supplies and power 
economic growth at home. [Reuters, 4/6/2009] 
 
¶4. (U) Repsol and OMV Make Discovery Offshore Libya: Libya's 
National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced that Spain's Repsol and 
Austria's OMV have made their first discovery offshore Libya on 
Block NC-202. The NC-202 block was awarded in November 2003, and 
is operated by Repsol, which holds a 21% interest, the NOC holds 
65% interest, and Austrian OMV holds the remaining 14% working 
interest. [PetroleumAfrica.com, 4/11/2009] 
 
¶5. (U) Algeria's Sonatrach Finds Oil in Libya's Ghadames Region: 
Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced that a 
hydrocarbon discovery was made by the SIPEX Libyan branch, 
(Sonatrach in Libya) at an exploratory well onshore in the 
Ghadames basin, 230 kilometers south of Tripoli. Sonatrach 
acquired the block in 2005 and holds a 25% stake, while the NOC 
holds the remaining 75% stake. [www.noclibya.com.ly, 4/13/2009] 
 
¶6. (U) Libyan Fuel Distributor Plans to Enter Tunisia: Planning 
Director of al-Rahila, second fuel distributor in Libya, 
announced the company's plan to establish in Tunisia. The access 
to the Tunisian market is one of al-Rahila five-year plan.  Two 
possibilities are on the agenda, the first is to find a 
strategic partner running already gas stations in Tunisia or 
building its own filling stations network. [African Manager, 
4/15/2009] 
 
¶7. (U) Libya Smart Energy City Project Signed: A $ 5 billion 
dollar contract to build a smart energy city west of Tripoli was 
signed between Libyan al-Niqat Al-Khams Company for Investment 
and Tourism Development, one of the companies affiliated with 
the Economic and Social Development Fund, and Gulf Funding 
House, one of the financial institutions in Bahrain and the Arab 
Gulf. Implementation of the project will start immediately. The 
project will be implemented jointly; the Libyan company will 
contribute 40% and the Gulf Funding House 60%. The city will 
accommodate offices for oil and gas, shipping, trade and media 
companies. The project will also include a tourist resort and 
recreational spaces, residential compounds, and a marina. [Libya 
Alyoum, 4/25/2009] 
 
¶8. (U) Occidental Increases Regional Oil Production Despite 
Decreasing Production in Libya: American Occidental Petroleum 
increased its oil production in the Middle East and North Africa 
(MENA) by 5 per cent during the first quarter of 2009. In its 
earnings release, Occidental said it produced 142,000 barrels a 
day (b/d) in the MENA region in the first quarter of 2009, 
compared with 135,000 b/d in the same period of 2008. 
Occidental's oil production in Oman rose 70 per cent; however, 
its production in Libya fell 63 per cent to just 8,000 barrels a 
day. [MEED, 4/26/2009] 
 
REGIONAL ISSUES 
 
¶9. (U) 7th Round Of Joint Libyan -Tunisian Consular Committee: 
After the 7th round of Joint Libyan -Tunisian Consular Committee 
talks, a minute was signed by the Director of Consular Affairs 
 
TRIPOLI 00000365  002 OF 003 
 
 
Department at General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and 
International Cooperation and the Director General of Consular 
Affairs at the Tunisian Foreign Affairs Ministry. The minute 
provides consular cooperation support between the two countries 
in areas covering, customs, workforce and social security as 
well as cooperation in security, judicial, fishing, travel and 
residence fields for citizens of both countries. The next round 
of the joint committee will be in 2010 in Libya. 
[Libyaonline.com, 4/4/2009] 
 
¶10. (U) Libya Donates $1.4 Million Dollars Worth in Livestock 
Equipment to Mali: Libya has donated equipment, worth $1.4 
million dollars, for the promotion of livestock, to Mali. The 
donation represents the second part of Libya's material support 
for Mali's annual live stock vaccination campaign for 2008-2009. 
The first batch of the equipment was given in late 2008 during 
the visit of a Libyan government delegation to Mali. [Afrique En 
Ligne, 4/7/2009] 
 
¶11. (U) Libya Donates Ten Tractors to Sierra Leone to Support 
Sierra Leone Food Security Program: Ten tractors have been 
handed over to the Sierra Leone Government by the Libyan 
Ambassador to Sierra Leone. Libya intends to assists Sierra 
Leone in its food security program. The program initially 
provides 5,000 acres for rice cultivation. In addition to the 
tractors, the Libyan Government has provided 10 technicians and 
operators for the farmlands; the aid package also includes 
maintenance services and the provision of fuel and lubricants 
for the tractors. [Libyaninvestment.com, 4/24/2009] 
 
TRADE 
 
¶12. (U) 38th Round of Tripoli International Fair Held in 
Tripoli:  38th Round of Tripoli International Fair was held in 
Tripoli from April 2 - 12. 39 countries including Belorussia, 
France, India, Iran, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Italy, Austria, 
Spain and Greece participated in the fair. [libyaonline.com, 
4/4/2009] 
 
¶13. (U) Libyan Fair Authority Sings MOU with Milano Expo 2015: 
The Libyan Fairs Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) with MilanoExpo 2015 Ltd., and the Italian Institute of 
Foreign Trade whereby the two parties agreed on forging 
cooperation between MilanoExpo 2015 and Tripoli International 
Fair. Libyan companies will be provided an opportunity to 
participate with their goods and services in MilanoExpo 2015. 
The MOU includes the provision of assistance to Libyans 
interested in participating. [Tripoli Post, 4/4/2009] 
 
BILATERAL ISSUES 
 
¶14. (U) Libya, Portugal Review Cooperation as International 
Trade Fair Opens: The Portuguese Economy and Finance minister 
visited Libya during the 38th Tripoli International Trade Fair, 
and discussed with Libyan officials means to develop economic 
cooperation in the fields of civil works, infrastructure and 
renewable energy through the establishment of joint investment 
projects between Libya and Portugal. [africanmanager.com, 
4/4/2009] 
 
¶15. (U) Bilateral Cooperation between Tripoli and Belorussia: A 
Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Libya and Belarus 
on the development of economic cooperation and trade between the 
two countries. Under the Memorandum, the countriess will support 
bilateral cooperation in the fields of investment, industry, oil 
and chemicals, planning and construction, infrastructure, urban 
development, transportation, health and production of medicines, 
food industries and scientific research. Direct flights between 
Tripoli and Minsk and the facilitation of procedures for 
obtaining visas for nationals of both countries are also part of 
the agreement. [Oea, 4/6/2009] 
 
¶16. (U) Turkish Minister Visits Libya for Business Talks: A 
50-member delegation including businessmen from the sectors of 
construction and furniture accompanied Turkish State Minister 
during an official visit to Libya. The Minister held talks with 
Libyan officials as an effort to create new business 
opportunities for Turkey and to improve economic and commercial 
relations between the two countries. [world bulletin, 4/22/2009] 
 
INVESTMENT 
 
¶17. (U) Benghazi Business Incubator Launched: The Benghazi 
Business Incubator program comes as part of Libya's plan to 
diversify the economy, supporting small and medium enterprises 
development and promotion. The opening was attended by 
 
TRIPOLI 00000365  003 OF 003 
 
 
representatives of different economic sectors in the region. 
After Tripoli and Benghazi, a third business incubator program 
is planned for Sebha, southern Libya. [Tripoli Post, 4/11/2009] 
 
¶18. (U) The Libyan Stock Exchange Regulated a Specialized Course 
in Securities Investment: In the context of promoting culture of 
investment in the financial markets, a session of specialized 
training programs in how to invest in the stock markets with the 
public and private companies as well as natural persons was held 
in Tripoli. The session included a comprehensive training 
program on financial markets, stock companies and the role of 
intermediaries in the implementation of the sale and purchase. 
[libyaonline.com, 4/13/2009] 
 
¶19. (U) Opening of Libyan Center for Information of Credit: 
Libya Central Bank announced the establishment of the Libyan 
center for information of credit as the first credit office for 
the reformation and development of the banking sector in Libya. 
The Libyan center for information of credit started its services 
to the banks on April 15 through its website: www.lcic.ly.com. 
The center aims at collecting and documenting the personal and 
credit information of financial borrowers, providing the banks 
with detailed credit reports; this information will improve the 
banks abilities to evaluate the risks of credit. 
[Libyaonline.com, 4/9/2009] 
 
 IT 
 
¶20. (U) Contract to Provide Optical Fiber Services in Libya: 
Libya Telecommunication and Technology (LTT) and the Chinese 
company Huawei Technologies Co. signed a contract to implement 
optical fiber technology in Tripoli. Initially 800 houses on the 
airport highway will be connected and then the network coverage 
will be expanded to other districts. LTT expects to provide more 
stable and more advanced broadband services. 
[Libyaninvestment.com, 4/9/2009] 
 
¶21. (U) Microsoft Opens an Office in Tripoli: Microsoft Company 
opened its new headquarters in Tripoli and appointed a Libyan 
distributor for its programs as a start in the Libyan market. 
Representatives from Microsoft announced the company's intention 
to establish a long-term cooperation and relationship with its 
partners in Libya. [Libyaninvestment.com, 4/12/2009] 
 
AVIATION 
 
¶22. (U) Afriqiyah Airways Achieved "ISO" Certificate and Signed 
Contracts for New Planes: Afriqiyah Airways Company achieved the 
"ISO" certificate of IATA. Also, Afriqiyah Airways Company 
signed a contract with Airbus Company to purchase 23 planes 
including, 11 Airbus planes A320, 6 Airbus planes A350, 3 Airbus 
planes A319 and 3 Airbus planes A330. Afriqiyah Airways Company 
announced that it will start direct flights to: Johannesburg, 
Manila, Beijing, Guangzhou and Parsifal. [libyaonline.com, 
4/12/2009] 
 
¶23. (U) Biman Bangladesh Airlines to Launch Flight to Libya: 
Biman Bangladesh Airlines announced the beginning of two new 
international routes. The Bangladeshi airline will start flights 
to Libya and China -two of the country's fastest-growing trade 
partners- next month as it sees a potential increase of air 
traffic on the routes. Biman will operate bi-weekly flights to 
Tripoli and Guangzhou starting in May. Demand for air travel 
between Dhaka and Tripoli has peaked since the Libyan government 
announced it will hire more than 500,000 Bangladesh workers in 
the construction sector. Currently, Biman travels to 18 
countries around the world. [Financial Express, 4/25/2009] 
 
MEDICAL 
 
¶24. (U) iSOFT Secures Contract with Leading Libyan Hospital: IBA 
Health Group's Middle East and African iSOFT divisions have 
secured a two-year $100 dollars deal with al-Khadra Hospital, to 
deploy iSOFT's hospital information system and laboratory 
information system at the hospital. iSOFT has collaborated with 
Alshada Pharmaceutical & Medical Equipment in Tripoli, to 
install its system through a two-phased implementation process 
at the hospital. [HealthNEWS.Direct, 4/42009] 
CRETZ