BEIRUT (Reuters) -Billionaire businessman Elon Musk and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun spoke by phone to discuss making elements of Musk’s sprawling business empire available in Lebanon, a statement from Aoun’s office said on Thursday.
The statement said Musk called Aoun and “expressed his interest in Lebanon and its telecommunications and internet sectors”.
Aoun invited Musk to visit Lebanon and said he was open to having Musk’s companies present in the country, which ranks among the countries with the lowest internet speeds.
The call came just weeks after Aoun and other top Lebanese officials met with Starlink’s Global Director of Licensing and Development, Sam Turner, in Beirut for talks on providing satellite internet services in Lebanon. U.S. ambassador Lisa Johnson was pictured attending those meetings.
The negotiations have prompted some pushback in Lebanon. Internet access in the country has so far been operated exclusively by state-owned companies and their affiliates, who are lobbying the government not to license Starlink.
Starlink recently received licenses to operate in India and Lesotho.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Toby Chopra)
