Hajj Hassan calls for addressing imbalances in world trade

The caretaker industry minister, Dr. Hussein Hajj Hassan, briefed world states on the dire economic and political situation in Lebanon during his heading last week of Lebanon’s delegation to the forty-fourth session of the Industrial Development Board of the UN Industrial Development Organization in Vienna that coincided with UNIDO’s 50th anniversary. The minister reminded the international community of its failure to keep its commitments to alleviate Lebanon’s refugee crisis, demanding a rectification of the huge imbalances in global trade. Hajj Hassan said that developing countries, while struggling to expand the size and quality of their industries, face substantial difficulties in marketing and exporting their goods because of the protectionist policies adopted by large economic cartels. Meanwhile, Byblos Bank weekly monitor indicated a rise to USD 7.57 million in the trade balance at the end of the first half of 2016. This figure is attributed to an increase in the import bill by USD 612 million to USD 9.39 billion, and a corresponding fall in exports by USD 234 million to USD 1.82 billion, according to the monitor. Moreover, Lebanese exports to the EU have risen to USD 300 million only, compared to USD 200 million in 2000 (according to industry ministry statistics), whereas EU exports to Lebanon have jumped from USD 2 billion to USD 8.5 billion over the past 14 years. Besides, the closure of land crossings between Lebanon and Syria has greatly affected the flow of exports of made-in-Lebanon products to Arab countries. In a related analysis, L’Orient Le Jour newspaper drew attention in its November 21 edition, to the Arab Facilitation Agreement which, it said, is marred by shortfalls in implementation. In this respect, the chief of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, Fadi Gemayel, in an interview with L’Orient Le Jour, said the anguish of Lebanese Industrialists is mostly caused by an absence of official support, stressing that the solution would be in restoration of the tariffs that were suspended by above agreement or in backing local industrialists. (L’Orient Le Jour, Al Diyar, November 19, 21, 25, 2016)

 

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