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Reviewing unfair trade agreements
13-6-2019
The industry minister Wael Abu Faour stressed the need to reassess and change the unfair trade agreements signed with Lebanon, citing the 2002 agreement with the EU which was supposed to be reviewed in 2007. Abu Faour was speaking in a joint press conference yesterday with the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) chairman, Nabil Itani, to announce future cooperation between his ministry and IDAL in the field of research and industrial zones, as well as boost investment in industrial projects. Abu Faour said the national industry has not received the required attention in the past period, noting that the ministry has been marginalized itself, bullied by a commercially-driven mindset that does not believe in the useful role of industry and other productive sectors in achieving growth and economic advancement. Abu Faour pressed for strengthening production and exports to arrive at a minimum balance of trade. Lebanon, he said, should stop importing at a value of USD 20 billion while only exporting USD 3 billion. He described the response of some concerned international parties as inadequate, warning that Lebanon should resort to protective measures against dumping similar to world countries. Itani, for his part, said the industrial sector is a main target for IDAL, due to its huge impact on the social and economic life and its contribution to economic growth. Currently, he maintained, the sector contributes 15% of GDP and employs 21% of the domestic labor force. (Al Diyar, June 13, 2019)
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