Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has invited Elon Musk to Beirut after the world's richest man called him on Thursday and expressed interest in entering the country's dilapidated telecommunications sector.
“President Aoun received a phone call from the CEO of Tesla, Space X and the X platform, Elon Musk, who expressed his great interest in Lebanon and its telecoms and internet sector,” the Lebanese leader's office said.
“At the end of the call, President Aoun invited Musk to visit Beirut, and Musk responded by thanking him for the invitation, promising to meet it at the first appropriate opportunity.”
Mr Musk's Starlink internet satellites already cover some Middle East countries including Oman and Jordan. In May, Starlink’s global director of licensing and development, Sam Turner, met Mr Aoun in Beirut to discuss making the service available in Lebanon.
Mr Turner briefed the President on Starlink and its benefits “in enhancing satellite internet service, which will positively impact the work of industrial, commercial, banking and educational institutions, as well as government departments and institutions”.
Mr Musk was a close financial backer of US President Donald Trump in his White House run last year. He led the Department of Government Efficiency for several months this year, before stepping down and becoming involved in a public feud with Mr Trump.
Lebanon's telecommunications sector remains unstable yet expensive, and is in need of an upgrade that the government has struggled to introduce because of financial troubles. Starlink offers high-speed broadband internet using satellites in orbits of between 200km and 2,000km.
Lebanon is in urgent need of financial support and is still reeling from Israel's war with Hezbollah last year, which left large areas of the country in need of reconstruction.
