Libya Readies to Take Center Stage

Libya Readies to Take Center Stage

TRIPOLI, Libya, August 30/PRNewswire/ --

- Spectacular Opening Event to Headline a Week-long Series of Celebratory
Events

- Libya's Rich and Ancient History Featuring the Jewels of the African
Union to be Showcased

Preparations are near conclusion for 'Celebrate Libya', one of
Africa's biggest ever events, in Tripoli today. The grand celebration will
then set in motion a week-long series of festivities for the world to enjoy.
Libya appears to be striving not only to outdo any of its earlier Al Fateh
revolution anniversaries, but perhaps Any event on the continent as well. The
historic celebration designed to mark 40 years of Muammar Al Gaddafi,
Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution, also commemorates another
significant regional milestone - a decade since Africa's countries came
together, under his leadership, to form the African Union.

After months of preparation, the festivities are in their
final stages on what is considered to be one of the world's largest stages.
Working alongside the Libyan Government, international planners, builders and
managers have been flown in to ensure next week's success. The architect
behind 'Celebrate Libya,' Philippe Skaff, remarks on his experience
throughout the project, "I was an explorer about to embark on a journey of a
lifetime with the chance to write the most impressive chapter of the story of
my life and this unique challenge has evolved in terms of content to extreme
proportions. It is a beautiful thing to control the full event management and
the people of Libya made it enjoyable and rewarding from start to finish."

Eight hundred performers, including hundreds of dancers,
unique African animal structures, military bands, flame ballet, and laser
projections will bring to life 12,000 years of the land's rich history and
see the 120 meter-wide screen stage fill with water to recreate the
Mediterranean Sea. To top off the grand event a fireworks display will light
up the sky, launched from ships off the coast of Tripoli. The show is
orchestrated by the French company, Group F, who are credited with some of
the most impressive light displays including the Eiffel Tower's Millennium
Celebrations and the famed Sydney Harbour New Year's Eve.

More than 300,000 people are expected to gather in Tripoli's
Green Park along with hundreds of special guests and dignitaries. Place-cards
have already been made for the likes of Berlusconi, foreign ambassadors,
leaders of industry and celebrities, along with most, if not all, African
heads of state who will already be attending the August 31st Africa Union
Summit hosted by Libya.

As for the next seven days, unprecedented events are scheduled
to sweep through the country introducing some of Libya's lesser known
national treasures to the world. Their itineraries boast castles, floating
restaurants, touareg horse performers, hot air balloons, island escapes and a
circus. Concerts featuring both international and Arab music are to be set in
some of the world's best preserved sites of world heritage while images and
lights will be projected on monuments in cities across the country.

Ranked as the second wealthiest country in Africa, after
Equatorial Guinea, Libya's GDP reached over US$100bn last year and has
remained largely unaffected by the global economic crisis. Along with
Nigeria, it is also the continent's largest oil producer with reserves of at
least 36bn barrels of high quality oil. In a time when the Gulf's reserves
are limited, conflict in West Africa, and Russia's logistically difficult
business environment, Libya's largely unexplored hydrocarbon industry appears
highly promising.

Libya is seen by many as a long hidden treasure. And to the
joy of flocking business executives from New York to Tokyo, the 'Gateway to
Africa' has been increasingly liberalizing the role of the private sector.
The country has even partnered with the Middle East's leader in alternative
energy innovation, the UAE, on an ambitious eco-tourism project in the Jebel
Akhdar. Other industries with emerging opportunities include
telecommunications, real estate and tourism. Plans for a 500-unit Movenpick
Hotel with a yacht club and a JW Marriott Hotel in Tripoli's new central
business district are already underway.

Libya's sanctions have for decades impaired access to
investors and tourists alike, leaving its five UNESCO World Heritage sites
pristine yet unseen. The cave drawings found in the Sahara's Fezzan area,
date Libyan civilization back to at least 12,000 B.C. and since, the country
has experienced occupation under Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and
Byzantines, all leaving behind traces of their conquests. Visitors to Leptis
Magna, Sabratha, or Cyrene can marvel at some of the world's most well
preserved ruins, explore the Sahara's exotic wilderness or simply enjoy a
holiday break on one of the 1,200 miles of unspoiled coastline.

Libya's rich history, culture and its determination to see
change happen will be a celebrated by the most historical opening to the
world on September 1st, 2009.

For access to full media materials, visit
http://www.celebratelibyapress.com. This site will be updated with new
materials and images throughout the week's events

Contact:
- Bushra Hamwi
- Rebecca Farquhar
- Luiza Carter
- Jordana Tasker - +218-917-171294
or celebratelibya@greybeirut.com

Source: Celebrate Libya

Contact: Bushra Hamwi, Rebecca Farquhar, Luiza Carter, Jordana Tasker - +218-917-171294 or celebratelibya@greybeirut.com

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