also president of the Association of Industrialists from 1965 to 1975, and called for the establishment of a Ministry of Industry. Khoury's first industrial ventures were in the electricity sector. He invested at an early stage in the La Kadisha company, and in 1948 founded another hydroelectric company, Al-Bared, with two other partners . Through these two companies, Khoury helped to solve the electricity crisis that plagued Lebanon between 1952 and 1954. He proposed linking Beirut to the networks of Qadisha, Nahr el-Bared and Nahr el-Joz to overcome the power cuts in the capital, with Al-Bared handling the operation. In an effort to strengthen the energy sector, he demanded in 1956 a government loan of £L5 million to La Kadisha in order to avoid an increase in electricity tariffs. Khoury was also involved in the cement industry. In 1963, he became a shareholder in the Lebanese Cement Company, founded in 1929 by the Maronite Patriarchate in Chekka, having supplied its factories with electricity through the Al-Bared company since 1956. In 1952, through several companies founded in conjunction with various business partners from Tripoli Khoury helped establish a free zone in the Port of Tripoli, building port facilities and warehouses and supplying the necessary machinery for the transfer of goods. This expanded the port significantly, as well as strengthening North Lebanese industry in general. He then founded several import–export companies with his partners to encourage trade and transit operations, which inevitably led him to become more closely involved in the maritime transport sector. He became a ship owner and founded the Maritime Boutros S. El-Khoury Agency in the 1960s. Khoury also invested in numerous other areas, founding or co-founding over 50 companies both in Lebanon and abroad. Sectors to which he contributed included aluminum and pressed wood production, the petroleum industry, the drinks industry (notably juices and sparkling water), the hospitality industry (hotels), the insurance sector, and the land and real estate industry. Banking Khoury's involvement in the Lebanese banking sector contributed to the emergence of the "Golden Age" in the domestic banking industry in the 1950s. He became one of the main figures of the Lebanese banking sector, alongside people like Pierre Edde, Hussein Al Oweini and Philippe Takla. In addition to his role in the BCAIF, which played a leading role in the economic affairs of the country, he also participated in the establishment of many banking institutions, including