Libyan Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem in late September reaffirmed the government's commitment to privatisation as part of a move to attract more foreign direct investment. He said that the government aimed to privatise 360 firms, 50 of which would be open to foreign investors. 'The participation of foreign companies in the privatisation process is very welcome,' Ghanem said. Companies likely to attract the most foreign investment are those in the oil, petrochemicals, steel, cement and agriculture sectors. Ghanem said that privatisation in Libya was needed due to the companies' poor performance, which he blamed on bad management (MEED 22:8:03).