Cabinet approves provision for agriculture exports by sea

Finally, and after 92 days of stagnation in the traffic of Lebanese exports due to the closure of all land borders, the Council of Ministers approved last Thursday to support the transport by sea of agricultural and industrial exports bound for the Arab countries by subsidizing the additional shipping expenses through a USD 21 million allocation for a period of seven months which will be disbursed on a monthly basis and according to a timetable laid down by IDAL in coordination with the Agriculture Minister. In this respect, Ibrahim Tarshishi, President of the Association of Beqaa Farmers expressed his relief on the positive results pointing that the plan should have been approved much earlier. Tarshishi disclosed that an emergency meeting will be held next week in the presence of Akram Shehayeb, Minster of Agriculture, and various parties concerned, including representatives of exporters, the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon and shipping agencies in order start the implementation of the proposed plan. (Al Diyar, As Safir, An Nahar, 3 July 2015)