Several foreign delegates arriving at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport today to exhibit in the Libya Build 2024 show were held up for hours, several foreign business and embassy sources have confirmed.
The scene was described as ‘‘absolute chaos’’ by one foreign businessman. He said waiting times to get through passport control were up to two hours. ‘’This is not a good sign for exhibitors and all the foreign delegates’’, the foreign businessman added.
Several exhibitors annoyed at their treatment indicated that they would not be exhibiting in Libya again. Some were surprised that the organisers of Libya Build had not arranged some kind of ‘‘fast lane’’ system for exhibitors. Others wondered if the Tripoli government was really interested in attracting businesses back to Libya – why it had not organised multiple passport processing windows at the airport.
Libya Build is running from 29 April to 2 May and is being held at Tripoli International Fairgrounds. It describes itself as the largest building and construction event in North Africa.
It says there will be 265 local and international brands from the building and construction sectors on display at this year’s show.
