The Lebanese Franchise Association (LFA) is organizing BIFEX 2018 on April 18 at BIEL Beirut under the patronage of prime minister Saad Hariri. According to Al Mustaqbal newspaper, this year’s forum held under the slogan ‘Retail in Lebanon: Sustainability and Growth’, will include specialized panel discussions with Lebanese and international experts from UK, Germany, Sweden and the US. The panels will reportedly focus on competitive chaos and its impact on the sustainability of companies, maintaining trademark and brand standards, the consumer and new consumption patterns, future growth patterns, cooperation to secure transition from ideas to strategies in companies and the importance of innovation in economic growth. The event also includes a round table on the ‘successful development strategies’ and a workshop on ‘sustainable innovation’. (Al Mustaqbal, April 11, 2018)