Libya – Special Report Looking back, moving forward


Liz Croxson from event logistics company Show Carriage talks about the challenges of setting up shop in Gaddafi’s Libya, the courage shown by colleagues during the conflict, and offers some words of wisdom for companies wishing to enter the market.


LIBYA was seen as a challenging market to work in and quite rightly so. To import and export goods for exhibitions into a country under full con- trol of an aging dictator was a tall order. In 2004 Show Carriage co-ordinated all the freight for the Libya Build


Exhibition in Tripoli, which then launched a successful path within the Libyan exhibition freight logistics sector. There have been many exhibitions since then – Libdex, Libya


Education, Libya Energy week, the Motor Show and many more. All these exhibitions should have put Libya on the road to building a robust infrastructure to secure its future influence on the world. However worldwide events have always overshadowed the country and clouded it with suspicion and embargoes, holding down the tenacity and exuber- ance of the Libyan people. In order to work in Libya it is essential to cultivate the right partners


who understand not only the Libyan way of working but also have enough knowledge of the way the rest of the world works in order to get goods through customs on temporary import licences, delivered to stands and then re-exported at the end of the show. Problems can arise, which are unrelated to the actual process of


importing. On one occasion the exhibition venue laid tarmac the day before heavy lifting machinery was due to be placed on it for exhibition purposes. On another occasion Colonel Gaddafi purloined every hotel room in Tripoli turning all “guests” onto the streets with literally nowhere to go; basic amenities taken for granted in other countries could never be relied upon in Libya. Despite the challenges, we made progress and in June 2010 Show


Carriage in conjunction with our parent company The Charles Kendall Group, opened a Libyan company called Al Buwaba Al Libya, in Tripoli. The process of setting up a company in Libya was extremely complex and a bureaucratic nightmare with all documents having to be translated into Arabic and legalised. After much hair pulling, Al Buwaba was up and running, headed by a Libyan national who had been based in the UK for many years, and keen to return to his homeland. Following a year of successful trading, the first hint of trouble escalat-


ed very quickly into complete anarchy. Al Buwaba’s doors were closed and, with his wife and two small children in the car, passports hidden within a sealed nappy bag, Al Buwaba’s manager took a terrifying jour- ney through numerous check points to escape the violence. His cover story was that his wife needed hospital treatment in Tunisia, and that they were not leaving Libya for good. Rumours were rife that overzeal-


ous gun wielding guards were shooting “deserters” and attacking women at check points. Once safely in Tunisia the family were able to unpack their hidden passports and board a plane bound for the UK. The tenacity and endurance of the other nationalities that live and


work in Libya is something to be marvelled at. During the worst of the fighting, one of Al Buwaba’s sub-contractors took refuge in the Ghanaian Embassy for months on end. Unable to go ‘home’ to Ghana and trapped in a guest country embroiled in conflict he managed to sur- vive. Nearly a year later, phone and email traffic has started again. Old con-


tacts are emerging as if from hibernation to celebrate survival and are ready to embrace the future. Ports and airports are once again open, and certainly in Tripoli busi-


nesses are starting to run again. It should not be too long before the exhibition market will kick start and Al Buwaba will open its doors once again. My advice on doing business in Libya is to use reliable contacts. Over


many years, Show Carriage has cultivated a network of Libyan contacts who not only understand our business but more importantly know how to make it happen in the Libyan environment. No one knows at this stage what rules and red tape will be put in place, however where there is a will there is a way and this sums up the amazing endurance of the people who live in Libya.


Liz Croxson is Director of Show Carriage


Words of advice on doing business in Libya - from the experts “It is too early to set up a new business but it is not too early for public relations.” Sami Zaptia, Managing Director of Know Libya.


“Oil supply companies could do immediate business with Libya. Re-establish contacts – most middle management has not been replaced. Get onto the vendor lists of the end users, companies are already requesting updated information.” Tarek Alwan, Managing Director of SOC Libya.


“Don’t imagine you can just quote any price – you have got to offer good value for money. It will also take two, three maybe four visits to sign contracts.” Lord Trefgarne, Chairman, Libyan British Business Council.


“Companies who think they are owed money should go to the government. Those thinking of litigation should forget future contracts.” Robin Lamb, Director General, Libyan British Business Council.


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