TRIPOLI: The leaders of Singapore and Libya have called on the private sector to take the lead when it comes to investments between Singapore and Libya.

However, both governments have agreed to facilitate this and look at co-investments in a third country.

The agreement was reached at a meeting between Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and former Libyan prime minister Shukri Ghanem. Mr Shukri is also the National Oil Corporation chairman and a well-known reformist.

One of the first stops for Senior Minister Goh when he arrived in Libya was to visit the Old City. With a street plan laid down as far back as Roman times, it remains a bustling area for small Libyan businesses.

However, the country has more ambitious plans after years of isolation due to UN sanctions.

Mr Goh was briefed on the plans at a welcome dinner hosted by Deputy Secretary-General of the People's Committee, Mubarak Abdullah al Shamikh. The plans include investment opportunities in infrastructure, training, tourism and minerals.

With some European and Asian countries like Korea already starting to look towards Libya, Mr Goh and his host agreed that it would be good for Singapore companies to invest early.

In a meeting later in the day with former premier Shukri Ghanem, the leaders spoke not just of investing in each other's countries, but also looking at a third country together.

Teng Theng Dar, CEO of Singapore Business Federation, said: "In very simple language, as a businessman, you love virgin markets. That means something very new, something that everyone can have a chance, where the space of growth is tremendous. And in my opinion, Libya appears to be a market of this character."

One clear possibility is the hotel industry. With about 2,000 kilometres of coastline and no top-class resort hotel, there is good potential here for first movers.

There are currently about 12,000 hotel rooms here and the country is targeting to ramp this up to 50,000.

Louis Tay Heng Hock, Surbana International Consultants' deputy regional director (Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa), said: "So there has to be quick build-up of hotel inventory if they are going to be able to sustain tourism growth." - CNA/ir