Tobacco Regie transformed into a profitable national company

As Safir newspaper published yesterday a feature on the Regie Libanaise des Tabacs & Tombacs based on an interview with its director of manufacturing and maintenance, engineer Salah Zeidan, who hailed the national role of the company in motivating and supporting local farmers. Zeidan said the Regie kicked off from Bekfaya and gradually expanded from an agricultural fiefdom controlling up to hundreds of acres to a an equal opportunities distributor growing licenses to farmers who cultivate their own land. At that point, the decision to develop the sector was taken in unison with the construction of the first plant in 1994 in Bekfaya, and then two others, the first in Hadath, built in 1997 and the second in Gazieh, built in 1998 and renovated this year. On the impact of the Regie strategy, Zeidan insisted that it was very successful. He noted that the Regie’s total disbursement to farmers during the last season amounted to some LBP 90 billion that were distributed to some 23-25 thousands household farmers. Production also has risen from 2,000 boxes per month in 1993 to 35 thousands presently. Furthermore, he noted that the yearly operational cycle dropped from 16 to 10 or 11 months, which Zeidan explained, meant less hardship for farmers. He disclosed that with the expansion and of the Hadath factory, the Regie is now transformed into a full-fledged national company, pumping significant amounts of money into public treasury through the Ministry of Finance, with proceeds for the year 2014 reaching LBP 790 billion. (As Safir, 14 August 2015)