The Minister of Agriculture, Nizar Hani, is heading on an official visit to Iraq that will last for 24 hours, accompanied by the Director General of Agriculture, Engineer Louis Lahoud, the Lebanese Ambassador to Iraq, Muhammad Khalil, and two representatives of the Vegetable and Fruit Exporters Syndicate. The visit aims to complete the implementation of the road map developed by the Ministry for marketing and exporting this year’s Lebanese apple season.
Minister Hani is scheduled to hold a series of meetings including his Iraqi counterpart and a number of major importers of Lebanese agricultural products. The discussions focus on ways to increase the volume of apple exports to the Iraqi market and meet import requirements, as well as strengthening direct communication channels between Lebanese exporters and Iraqi importers, which contributes to securing additional markets for the crop and its disposal and improving financial returns for farmers.
In the same context, a meeting is expected to be held in coordination with the Minister of Finance, Yassin Jaber, to discuss the obstacles related to financial transfers from Iraq to Lebanon, and their repercussions on the regularity of commercial operations and ensuring the timely collection of Lebanese exporters’ dues.
The Ministry of Agriculture confirms that this intensive visit comes within the framework of following up on the operational files that govern the export movement, with the aim of overcoming obstacles to the arrival of Lebanese apples to Iraqi markets and ensuring the smooth flow of financial returns to producers.
