The port of Beirut's reconstruction, after the devastating explosion on August 4, 2020, attracted international attention. France has not been afraid to step up to the plate, unveiling a proposal on Wednesday, March 13, for its reconstruction. The plan was prepared by engineering firms Artelia and Egis, with help from EDF for the photovoltaic component, and in coordination with the Lebanese Ministry of Transport and the Beirut port authorities. The plan calls for investments of between $50 million and $80 million to rehabilitate and redevelop the port area between the container terminal and the military port.

"The plan has been accepted and the port's revenues will be used to finance the required investments," Lebanon's transport and public works minister, Ali Hamie, told Le Monde at a presentation of the proposal, alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. As the state's main source of revenue, the port of Beirut has started to record rising revenues after suffering the effects of the 2019 economic and financial crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2020 explosion. According to Omar Itani, the port's general manager, revenues reached $150 million in 2023.

"The Lebanese economy needs a port that has been rebuilt, modernized and made safe," said Hervé Magro, the French ambassador to Lebanon. The French government, which has made the issue of the port a priority and one of the pillars of French cooperation with Lebanon, has taken a leading role in the issue. Crucial matters are yet to be finalized on the Lebanese side before the plan can be implemented, such as the financing plan, the reform of port governance and the clearance of waste in the area.

President Emmanuel Macron was quick to express France's interest in the project. The first foreign head of state to visit Lebanon after the disaster, on August 6, 2020, he returned a month later with the French-Lebanese CEO of the CMA CGM freight group, Rodolphe Saadé. Saadé's plan to build a smart port was not implemented. Still, at the beginning of 2022, with the backing of Paris, the shipping giant won the concession to run the container terminal at the port of Beirut for 10 years. It plans to invest $33 million to modernize the terminal, which provides the port with most of its revenue.

Other proposals were rejected, such as the ambitious $30 billion project presented in April 2021 by a consortium of German shipping companies, including Hamburg Port Consulting, to rebuild the site and redevelop the adjacent neighborhoods. The Lebanese authorities have opted for a plan presented as more "pragmatic" by the French side. The ambition is for Beirut to once again become an international port focused on imports and exports – but within the country's means. International investors and donors have continued to refuse to finance reconstruction in the absence of structural reforms.

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