LEBANON'S ancient ruins are accessible once more to the foreign visitor. The Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek, the Roman remains of Anjar and the mystical site of Byblos are all within a few hours' drive of Beirut. In the capital itself, archaeologists are seeking to unearth among the modern ruins of the commercial centre traces of what is believed to have been the world's first library.

For the contractors and financiers who have flocked to appraise Lebanon's new-found stability, the pock-marked skeleton of Beirut's commercial centre has an additional significance. It is the location of one of the most ambitious private sector development schemes ever to be carried out in the Middle East.

This month, bids are due for some $550 million of contracts to restore the infrastructure of the Beirut commercial district (BCD) for Solidere, the property company set up on the inspiration of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri to rebuild the former heart of Lebanon's capital city.

The start of work on developing the area will be the culmination of more than two years of detailed preparations. This has included allocating $1,170 million in A shares to the owners and tenants of some 1,650 lots in the BCD. This was followed by a highly successful $650 million subscription for B shares, which are now being unofficially traded at about 30 per cent above their par value. Official trading will start once the proper structures have been put in place.

The preparations have also included a detailed masterplan carried out by Solidere with the help of consultants Dar Al-Handasah. This projects the development of the BCD well into the next century. By 2018 the district is expected to cover a built-up area of 4.4 million square metres, house 40,000 residents and absorb 100,000 day-time employees into its offices, hotels and government facilities.

Solidere is the most ambitious of Lebanon's new private development projects, but it is by no means the only one. Bidders are putting together packages for an estimated $300 million conference and commercial centre in the Ain al-Mreisseh district of Beirut, a build-operate-transfer road project linking Beirut to the Syrian border is out to tender, and a Cyprus-based Lebanese banking family is raising $40 million in private finance for the first phase of a luxury residential complex south of Beirut designed to house up to 5,000 people.

These high-profile projects have attracted strong interest from international contractors. This is particularly the case for those companies that have been put off bidding for the public infrastructure schemes because of the intense competition or by the domination of some countries, in particular France and Italy, of the financing arrangements.

For the largest public project tendered so far, a 23-strong prequalification list was drawn up, and 16 bids were submitted. The large number of companies involved has led some contractors to conclude that such projects will be very difficult to win. In the event, the estimated $490 million contract is expected to be signed soon with a joint venture of Germany's Hochtief and the Athens-based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC).

However, the experience of companies working in the private sector has not been wholly reassuring. One European consultant working on a substantial construction project in Beirut describes the environment for contractors as chaotic. 'The local developers are essentially fishing for direct foreign investment, and it is not always clear how secure their financial position is,' he says. Another problem contractors encounter is the tendency for the owners to demand redesigns for projects during the construction period.

This arbitrary approach stems partly from the fact that the Lebanese construction sector has been almost entirely unregulated for the past 20 years. Building has gone on without planning permission, with the result that roads in the capital are clogged with traffic, and the previously scenic area to the north of Beirut has become an ugly sprawl of shoddily built concrete buildings.

The belated efforts by the current government to resolve the problem are only making matters worse. Fines for building without a permit are being applied retrospectively, even for buildings in mid-construction.

Despite these difficulties, international companies are following the market closely, and Lebanese firms that have made their names in the Gulf and beyond are returning to Beirut with high hopes.