New initiative aiming at making Tripoli the economic hub of Lebanon

After the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Tripoli and the North, Tawfic Dabousi, kicked off on August the ‘Tripoli is the economic capital of Lebanon’ initiative which will enable the city to play a key role in the salvage of national economy through the strategic strong points it boasts,  Dabousi has received Premier, Saad Hariri’s decision to place the initiative on the Cabinet’s agenda in the session that was projected to convene but did not in Tripoli. It is to be noted that the initiative highlights the potential role of Tripoli and the city's advantages for its geographical location and public utilities (For the initiative's content in Arabic, check the following link: http://bit.ly/2hLowYt ). In a meeting with former minister Ashraf Rifi and Hariri’s advisor for international cooperation, Nader Gazal, Dabousi pointed out that the agreement by the various political groups on the initiative makes feasible its implementation. Rifi, for his part, said that the moment is historic for the country with a rise in the Arab and international concern in North Lebanon regarding the imminent reconstruction of neighboring Syria. “It is not an option for us, in Tripoli, the North and Lebanon in general not to keep with developments and upgrade our infrastructure and the city’s projects… and create jobs for our youth,” Rifi stated. On this, Al Diyar newspaper mentioned that over the past six years, things in Tripli have been brought to a standstill due to the preoccupation of political factions with the Syria conflict. This, Al Diyar wrote, exacerbated the living conditions and economic realities. The Future Movement’s latest war on certain political parties in Tripoli, Al Diyar said, deprived the city from development projects promised by those parties, including: the payment of LBP 150 billion approved by the previous government of Mikati for the restoration of  the train station, completion of the construction of the highway, the uplifting of Rasheed Karameh International Exhibition, building of new bridges, rehabilitation of roads, operating the new economic zone, electricity works and completion of rehabilitation works of the famous Bal al Hadeed heritage site in the city.  (Annahar, Al Mustqbal and Al-Diyar 13,21,22,24 August, 21 September and 1 October 2017)
 
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