Emirati businessman Habtoor to visit Syria to explore investment opportunities

Emirati businessman Khalaf Ahmad al-Habtoor, head of Dubai conglomerate Al Habtoor Group, will visit Syria in the coming days to explore investment and cooperation opportunities, Al Habtoor Group said in a statement on Monday.

The businessman, who has not visited Lebanon in 20 years, announced in late January the total suspension of his investments in the country, just days after expressing his intention to relaunch his projects in the country "as soon as the future government was formed." He then mentioned the "lack of security and economic prospects," two months after the cease-fire that ended more than a year of war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Also in January, Habtoor mentioned in an interview with Reuters that Lebanon was still not safe and that he had been threatened to be "massacred and killed" in 2024. The threat, made on social media by an anonymous person, led him to file a complaint, which he won in a Lebanese court. When asked if he was considering investing again in Lebanon, the businessman replied that if the country could ensure security and protection, he "would undoubtedly return."