Government memo gives preference to Lebanese goods

Following the meeting headed by PM Saad Hariri to discuss national industry (https://goo.gl/G8SMiV), the prime minister issued a circular yesterday requesting all public institutions and departments, municipalities and municipal federations to give preference to made-in-Lebanon goods in all bids and state procurements. This includes in particular, the goods that have been classified along with their required specifications in the decrees released by the council of ministers. Hariri asked all above bodies to submit a quarterly report to the presidency of the cabinet about all completed transactions indicating their compliance with the said circular. For his part, the minister of industry, Wael Abu Faour, thanked Hariri for his quick response, pledging to follow up the commitment of the public institutions as monitored by the Lebanese Audit Bureau and the Public Procurement Management Administration. Abu Faour stressed that above circular will make a quantum leap in terms of increasing the productive capacities of the national industry or in securing a broad outlet for national products. The size of public procurement is exceptionally large, explained Abu Faour. They exceeded USD 5 billion according to 2016 and 2017 figures of the Procurement Administration, especially in certain departments and municipalities whose purchases are monitored and audited by said administration. Likewise, the head of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, Fadi Gemayel, considered the prime minister’s circular as a new hope for the sector. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, March 21, 2019)