New minister of Industry receives the demands of North Metn industrialists

The new Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Hajj Hassan, received the day before yesterday from the Delegation of the North Metn Industrialists a memorandum including their demands submitted to the Ministry for quite sometime ago and which are believed to be beneficial to the economy and the local industry.  Hajj Hassan stressed during the meeting the importance of increased investment in industrial zones.  He noted that what is needed from the Gathering of North Metn Industrialists is that they submit a dossier on this matter for the perusal of the Ministry of Industry and so that it is able to follow it up with other relevant ministries, public offices and concerned municipalities. The Minister disclosed that he has just signed a memorandum relevant to the industrial zone in Chekka.
The demands of the North Metn industrialists include the following:

1. A full waiver on income tax for all the products in this area and as per the practices in developed countries as this will encourage export and will attract foreign investments;
2. Creating a fund to subsidize the cost of fuel for high consumption factories which can be financed through the imposition of fees on foreign goods dumped in the local markets.
3. Coordinating with the relevant authorities the maintenance and refurbishment of the infrastructure in areas witnessing growth but where public services are still weak
4. Work with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities to create permanent civil defense centers in industrial zones equipped with the needed human and human resources to fight factory fires
5. Work with local urban planning authorities to raise the investment factor in industrial zones especially given the rise in the price of real estate and given the limited availability of qualified industrial zones able to absorb new investments
6. Work with the Ministry of Energy to allow industrial zones to produce their own electrical energy and to rotate its production amongst industrialists during working hours and with citizens after peak industrial hours which is likely to diminish the cost of energy borne by industrialists and decrease the pressure on the Lebanese Electricity Company

Source: Al-Safir, Al-Diyar 11 March 2014