IDAL praises the Lebanese food industry whilst companies warn of worse to come

In its issue of April 8, Al Akhbar daily newspaper quoted business circles and experts in the food industry in the country as warning of an imminent danger to the sector, despite having relatively maintained a steady growth in the volume of businesses and exports over the past few years. The majority of food companies have admitted a decline in the size of investments and sales as a result of the rise in the cost of production combined with the fierce competition in the local and foreign markets, as well as the disruption of the land transport for exporting. Meanwhile, the president of the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL), Nabil Itani, commended the resilience of the sector which he said possesses many mechanisms that allow it to increase its exports to record levels. He noted that food manufacturing establishments now observe the latest international standards and specifications in both production and packaging. Itani was speaking during his tour to Michel Daher food factories in Forzol, Beqaa. IDAL President clarified that despite the border crisis and the disruption of land shipments which forced a decline of the 2015 exports, the food industry exports stood nearly at 36.5% of total industrial exports while recording an increase of 32% between 2011 and 2015. Itani cited a study prepared by IDAL which showed that the total number of companies in the sector now represents more than 20.3% of the total number of industrial companies. (Al Akhbar, April 8, Al Mustaqbal, April 13, 2016)