From April 21-25, Logistics Plus participated in the British Embassy / Middle East Association Multi-Sector Trade Mission. The mission visited Libya and the Kurdistan region of Iraq. While in Libya, the LP delegation met with the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Renewable Energy, and the Ministry of Construction and Development.

Libya is a country at a crossroads. Since the revolution and the fall of the Kaddafi regime, the current Libyan interim government has the hard task of rebuilding its infrastructure and uniting the Libyan people. The current government is working very hard to attract investments, finish out old projects, and start new ones. The current government is west oriented and many of the ministers are western educated. They associate British and American products with high quality, so there is incredible potential for British and American companies in Libya. The current infrastructure in Libya is extremely poor, but the interim government is very positive about improving life in the country.

One of the areas where the government is concentrating their resources is renewable energy–an area where Logistics Plus has considerable experience. The goal is that by 2020, Libya will utilize the Sahara Desert in order to be the largest net exporter of renewable energy to the EU. For wind power, the goal is 260 megawatts from 4 wind farms. In terms of solar power, the goal is 124 megawatts by 2015, with solar water heating producing 60 megawatts.

And of course, oil continues to be the primary factor in Libya’s economy, since it is sitting on the largest oil reserve on the African continent. While the delegation was in Libya, we had the opportunity to attend the Oil & Gas Libya Fair. All of the major oil companies in the US, as well as the rest of the world, were represented.

Libya represents tremendous opportunities for US exporters in the energy sector. Given our experience in arranging transportation and warehousing of components for the wind and solar industries and our office located in Tripoli, Libya, we can definitely help our customers take advantage of these opportunities.