The General Authority of the Special Economic Zone in Tripoli (SEZ), the Tripoli Municipality and the Federation of Al Faihaa Municipalities signed yesterday a protocol of understanding and cooperation aimed at the development of the northern capital and environs in preparation for attracting investors. The tripartite agreement seeks to provide an appropriate environment for and ease the access of investments to needed facilities and services, thus contributing to the creation of jobs in the area. The three parties agreed to exchange expertise and set the necessary mechanisms to realize a number of goals, mainly: 1) cooperate with the Chamber of Tripoli, the private sector, international organizations and syndicates to draw an implementation plan for the training and building of cross-sectoral capacities of Lebanese labor force, mainly in trade and commerce, industry, construction, artisan and crafts, as such to match the work requirements of companies on the lookout for workers, and improve the skills of Lebanese laborers to be able to compete with foreign labor and give them an edge in employment prospects; 2) liaise with competent government departments and the private sector in order to set a final solution dynamics for removal of the trash mountain close to SEZ; 3) develop necessary schemes to regulate traffic between Al Faihaa cities and SEZ and facilitate trade exchange movement between SEZ and neighboring localities; 4) coordinate with local and international groups, public and private sector institutions, liberal professions unions, NGOs and economic bodies, and benefit from their proficiencies and prospective funding to secure the sought-for sustainable development for Tripoli and the North in general. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, June 8, 2017)