Ziad Hawat

Ziad Hawat (; born February 23, 1977) is a Lebanese politician and MP of the Lebanese Forces since 2018, who became the youngest mayor of Byblos. He initiated a €40 million project with partial Italian funding to fix the sewage system of multiple cities. Whilst he was mayor, Byblos was selected as a member of the top 100 resilient cities program of the Rockefeller Foundation. As mayor, a major park was built as well as restoration projects carried out in Byblos.

Early life Ziad was born in Byblos, Lebanon which is considered the oldest inhabited city in the world, to parents Halim Hawat and May Abi Saab originally from Mazraat Bani Saab (Bcharri). He grew up in the city with his brother, Nabil and sister Zeina.

In the year 2009, he married Miss Carine Abou Khaled with 3 children, Halim, Maria and Sophia. In 2013, Ziad Hawat was awarded the “Golden Medal of Merit” from the United Nations World Tourism Organization for outstanding achievements, with a certificate of distinction for Byblos as Best Arab Tourist City for the year 2013. In March 2013, Hawat joined forces with local and international collaborators and implemented a waste sorting scheme to preserve the city’s environment and safeguard it from pollution. Taking it a step further, In March 2014, Hawat launched a €40 million project, partially financed by the republic of Italy, and aims at establishing a sewage system that covers the cities of Byblos, Amsheet, Blat, Edde, Kfarmashoun, Jeddayel and Hosryael.

In line with his presidency, Ziad remains chairman of Hawat Trading, an exporter of wood products in Lebanon and the Middle East, chairman of ABM and chairman of Zinaline Kitchen Factory. In parallel with all the above, Ziad is a member of AIMF (International Association of Francophone Mayors) and a member of the Lebanese Maronite Association.

During his presidency, Ziad launched and oversaw projects, such as: the new municipality building, reconstruction of the old souk facades, Public Park with a surface area of 12,000 m2 which was awarded the biggest park award in Lebanon, Sports City, Best Touristic City of 2016, Christmas trees (2013 – 2016) which got worldwide recognition

In 2016, Ziad Hawat was reelected as President of the Municipality of Byblos for his 2nd term with no opponent to beat. He resigned from his post in July 2017, in order to run for parliament in the 2018 Lebanese general election and in May 2018, he finally gained a seat at the parliament.

Personal life He is the nephew of senior Byblos politician Jean Hawat.