Upon Hariri’s request, ban on Turkish imports postponed

Following contradictory reactions between opposition and support to the recent government decision banning Turkish imports, (https://goo.gl/ytq8gm), MP Samir Jisr said yesterday that at the request of prime minister Saad Hariri, the suspension of entry of wafer biscuits and similar goodies from Turkey has been put off for five months, namely for orders made before the ban date. Jisr, who was speaking after a meeting with a delegation of the Confectioners’ Traders Committee in Tripoli, explained that the delay intended to alleviate damage on Lebanese traders who ordered the imports. He said the Premier is following up the issue in order to strike a balance between protecting domestic production and avoid hurting Lebanese merchants. He called for tightening customs control on all commodities entering Lebanon irrespective of the exporting country. In parallel, the minister of trade and economy in the caretaker government, Raed Khury, announced the beginning of the structural change that shifts the economy from a rentier to a productive. He was speaking during a joint press conference with LIA president, Fadi Gemayel, to explain the cabinet decision to support the national industry (https://goo.gl/UDz9GZ). Khury revealed that within the coming two months, the economic model proposed by the consulting firm McKinsey to help formulate a new economic vision for Lebanon will be presented in order to identify the productive sectors that boast a preferential value for the country to this end. In his turn, Gemayel described the government’s decision to protect made-in-Lebanon products as a “victory for the national economy”, stressing that "such efforts will continue until a solution is secured for the remaining 25 products. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, June 8, 2018)

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