Arabnet digital summit was wrapped up on Saturday following five days of excessive talks, panels and workshops at Habtoor Hotel in Beirut.

During Forum Day 2, a panel was organized to discuss building a digital hub in Lebanon. The panel, moderated by Cleartag CEO TarekDajani, included Dr.SaadAndary, Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Salam Yamout, National ICT Strategy Coordinator at the Presidency of Council of Ministers, Fares Abi Nassif, Advisor to the Minister of Telecom, Diana Menhem, UNDP economic officer at IDAL and TarekSadi, managing director at Endeavor Lebanon.

According to Andary, Lebanon has the potential when it comes to entrepreneurship. He hoped the new law on developing financial markets will boost entrepreneurship in Lebanon and highlighted several approaches by the Central Bank in this regard.

Yamout underlined the “vision” of the council of ministers to turn Lebanon into a digital hub. “Lebanon has potential human resources,” he added. “The Council of Ministers is aware of the importance of technological progress and some of the ministers have started working to push this sector forward,” he said.

“The ministry of telecommunications is currently focusing on the digitization of sectors such as education, healthcare, banking and other sectors on one hand; and encouraging entrepreneurship in the digital sector on the other,” Abi Nassif said.

According to Menhem, “infrastructure and education are the pillars of establishing an environment of creativity and knowledge, which in turn will make Lebanon a digital hub.” Menhem revealed that IDAL is planning to amend its law. “According to the new law, startups will enjoy tax exemptions with easier terms,” she said. The new law is currently being studied by the concerned ministerial committee, she added.

“Laws and financial systems play a very important role in turning Lebanon into a digital hub,” Sadi said. “Nonetheless, developing university research and studies is as important,” he added.