Achievements by the food industry in Lebanon despite government neglect

The School of Engineering in the Islamic University of Lebanon, under the patronage of the Minister of Industry, Hussein Haj Hassan, organized at the University’s auditorium in the Beirut suburb of Khaldeh, a seminar under the title: ‘Food Industries in Lebanon - Present and Future’. President of the Syndicate of Lebanese Food Industries, Munir Bsat, who participated in the event, noted that the future of the food industry centers around two headings: the first is the development of new products, secondly, expanding the size of the industrial enterprises and markets, and adopting a new strategy that keeps abreast of developments in the field. For his part, Minister Haj Hassan said the industrial sector remains one of the key pillars of the economy, greatly contributing to its growth despite the faulty policies, the lack of national economic development vision. Several working documents were presented during the seminar, by the food industry syndicate, the Ministry of Industry and the IU School of Engineering, followed by discussions resulting in a number of recommendations. On a similar note, Al Akhbar newspaper published a summary of an interview with Bsat who commended the achievements of the sector despite the precarious general economic conditions in the country. According to the SLFI chief, the Lebanese food industries ranked first among the exports sectors during the last quarter of the year 2014, while recording $520 million in total exports. The achievements of the sector according to Al Akhbar can be traced to the growing external demand for the high quality Lebanese food products, at a time of falling Syrian exports to those foreign markets as a result of the war, as well as the growing domestic demand for Lebanese products resulting from the increase in consumption by the growing number of Syrian refugees. In reply to a question on the strategies and methods adopted by the Syndicate to promote the Lebanese products in global markets, Bsat pointed out namely to the participation in international food exhibitions. He also noted several obstacles hindering the growth of sector, mainly the deficit in local technical skills, insufficient financing and industrial land areas for the setting up of high quality enterprises. Finally, Bsat expressed his regret for the absence of sound industrial policies to develop the entire sector and particularly food processing. (Al Akhbar, Al Diyar, 29 April & 1st May 2015)