The Minister of Industry: It is time to announce our pride in Lebanese production

The Minister of Industry, Joe Issa El -Khoury, said today, Saturday, that “the industrialists participated historically with Arab, European and American exhibitions specialized because their capabilities allowed them to do so. Because of the recent financial and economic crisis, the Lebanese participation decreased.”

In an interview with “Voice of Lebanon”, he said: “The Ministry and the Lebanese Industrialists Association will organize an exhibition for the industry on October 29, its importance is the participation of industrialists and merchants from abroad to see the products of two hundred exhibitors on an area of ​​ten thousand square meters. Rescue stages and directions that define the differential features that must be built on to expand and enlarge industrial investment in it. There is no conflict if we are industrial and merchants at the same time. External investments. And its continuity in the time of crisis, for example, tourism. He said: “Cooperation is serious and strong with the Society of Industrialists through working workshops and continuous meetings, which we concluded from which we developed a schedule that refreshes the obstacles facing them with the mechanisms required to solve them, pointing to a basic problem related to the high cost of electricity and hi, and that it works to solve it with the Minister of Energy and Water, revealing that importing hi directly by industrialists reduces the cost of them. This is greater on the economy. Adopting bilateral agreements with the basic markets of Lebanon. He talked about the restructuring of the ministry and its enabled to facilitate services and accelerate the stakeholders and suppress corruption. He said: “The pollution of the Litani River affects all Lebanese, so the solution lies in awareness and strict accountability. By polluting the waters of the river through the drainage of industrial pollutants without treating them, and the only solution is the actual application of laws and accountability. ”In the context of his tour of industrial areas, he pointed to“ the importance of Lebanese factories and their accuracy, especially associated with manufactured agricultural products. ” He considered that “the pharmaceutical factories in Lebanon meet the global level, so it is not permissible for Lebanon to import 77% of its drug consumption, and therefore we have to reduce the import of drugs that compete with the drugs that we produce in Lebanon, especially the generic and support the manufacture Their main problem lies in smuggling and dumping more than competition, “and regretted” the existence of a major crisis in the customs file on the land borders and ports. ” He called for “activating the customs system and applying the mechanization in it to become more flexible and effective.” On the export, he stressed “the existence of natural markets for our products in Latin America and Africa that we have not benefited from them as it should.” He revealed “the launch of the Export Boost committee aimed at studying the current markets in addition to the ones that must be developed and investing the potential of expansion, and providing the Industrialists Association with results to help them identify opportunities.” He pointed out that “this step will be accompanied by official visits to some countries to discuss signing cooperation agreements,” calling on the Lebanese who are deployed to make additional efforts with local industrialists and merchants where they reside and work, to open the markets to Lebanese production. ” To attract investors and encourage them to invest in manufacturing within this sector, ”considering that“ the private sector is ready for that, but it needs to support the state by creating the legal framework and appropriate motivation. ”In response to a question, he pointed out that“ Lebanese products are completely absent from the Saudi market in recent years, which made the consumer get used to other alternatives, and this matter requires a double effort to re -enter Lebanese production to these markets. ”