Tel Aviv, Israel - The President of the Republic, H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah, has been making frantic efforts in the State of Israel marketing Liberia’s rich and diverse investment climate and attracting well-meaning investors to his country.    

Since his arrival in Israel, the President has been working around the clock meeting business executives, moving on field trips and making hypnotizing speeches on the rich potential of critical sectors such as agriculture, tourism, mining, technology and energy.

Speaking at the Israel-Liberia Forum for Economic Cooperation and Sustainable Development on Tuesday, February 26, 2019, President Weah said Liberia is a land of endless opportunities for investment in a diversity of sector agriculture, mining, tourism and hospitality, technology, manufacturing, banking and finance.

He assured his audience that his Government had developed and created a framework for attracting, protecting and sustaining foreign direct investments beneficial to Liberians and the outside world.

 
He commended the organizers, the Africa-Israel Chamber of Commerce and the Government of Israel, for engineering such an “all-important investment forum” that was held at the Shimon Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Tel Aviv.

The Liberian leader noted that a clear and practical roadmap for increased Israeli investments in Liberia will further enhance and cement relations with Israel, Liberia’s traditional friend of 61 years.

He also said he was confident that relations with Israel would greatly help in the realization of the Pro Poor Agenda for Development (PAPD), his government’s flagship development program.

President Weah assured the Government of the State of Israel and potential investors that his administration had instituted several policy initiatives making doing business in Liberia comfortable, including a harmonized and simplified national business registry.

“As a result of critical reforms at the National Investment Commission NIC), potential investors now have a one-stop-shop and a transparent list of regulatory requirements to establish their businesses in Liberia,” the President told the Forum. “Our investment incentive [TA1] regime has also been reformed, enabling investors who qualify under our liberal system to benefit from significant fiscal reliefs.”

President Weah also said that under the chairmanship of the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, the Government of Liberia constituted a “Business Climate Improvement Working Group”, which has since been identifying and tackling prohibitive bottlenecks that had been stifling the business and investment environment, leading to a more seamless process of investing in the Country.

The work of the group, the President told his hosts, has now caused the reduction in the time of registering a business from 18 days to 5 days”.

Speakers at the forum included the Director of Africa-Israel Chamber who assured the President of their interest to invest in Liberia.

The venue, the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, founded in 1996 by the late President of Israel, Shimon Peres, develops and implements impactful and meaningful programs with a focus on promoting a prosperous Israel, nurturing and highlighting Israeli innovation, and paving the way for shared-living between all of Israel's citizens and lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors.

On Wednesday, February 27, 2019 President Weah became the 112^th Head of State to plant a tree in Israel.  Weah, an advocate of peace by nature, prayed that the planting of tree brings life and genuine peace to Israel.