Center for Smart Innovations for Agri-food targeting emerging enterprises in Lebanon

The ‘Berytech’ incubator launched yesterday a program to establish an ‘Agrytech’ center which is an innovation center specialized in agri-food in Lebanon, with joint financing from the Embassy of Netherlands and ‘Berytech’ worth USD 3.3 million. The new program aims at including the best emerging companies that own the latest innovations in the agri-food sector, while providing them with relevant technical and business resources in addition to social support. The program called on small and medium businesses that own creative solutions that are specific to the value chain in the agri-food sector to register in that sector. The program will also provide grants up to USD 40 thousand, and support for a period up to one year to each of the emerging companies, according to the deputy general manager in Berytech, Rami Abu Jawdeh. Furthermore, Jawdeh added, the center will provide the opportunity for 30 emerging companies per year to receive support and to develop their business concept.  Following that, 15 companies will be selected to implement the project, and 8 companies only will be supported until the end of project implementation. Along the same lines, the Charge D’Affaires of the Dutch Embassy Han-Mauritz Skhaifeld, focused in his speech on the ‘importance of economic growth and creation of job opportunities in achieving increased stability and prosperity in Lebanon, adding that this program is a part of a larger contribution of EURO 86 million targeting Lebanon. (Al Mustaqbal, The Daily Star, L’Orient le Jour, January 20, 2017)