Industry minister calls for strengthening agriculture and industry before WTO accession

 

The Minister of Industry Dr. Hussein Haj Hassan clarified yesterday that Lebanon has previously signed the so-called Arab Cooperation Agreement Regulating and Facilitating Trade among Arab Countries and a similar trade agreement with the European Union which have had serious negative repercussions on the overall domestic economy. Haj Hassan pointed out to the negative outcome of the above arrangements namely the fall in the volume of exports, resulting in a growing trade deficit of USD 17 billion and USD 15 billion in 2014 and 2015, as well as an average 35% in unemployment. The Minister was speaking after a meeting with his economy counterpart, Minister Alan Hakim, which was held to discuss ongoing preparations for Lebanon’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) ahead of the forthcoming meeting with the latter on March 10. Haj Hassan made clear that negotiations with the WTO should continue but that, amidst the current wide trade deficit, the government needs to focus more on supporting the industrial and agricultural sectors in order to avert any further negative repercussions following accession to WTO. “We are urged to work on reducing unemployment and poverty which resulted form EU trade partnership, particularly since Lebanon is not a major market; noting that Lebanon’s exports to the EU are often hindered and blocked by stringent and complicated technical trade barriers.”  For his part, Hakim stressed that "this is an initial meeting to develop a common vision, but that Lebanon's interests and the interest of the productive sectors, basically industry and agriculture, come first,” noting that the national economy is still resilient. For more on Hakim’s position on this matter, please refer to: http://bit.ly/1QIu5uT (Al Mustaqbal, As Safir, March 1, 2016)