President Michel Aoun inaugurated on Friday the International Tasting Day and the Lebanese Arak Day organized by the ministry of Agriculture in Zahleh. On the occasion, the mayor of Zahleh- Taanayel, Asaad Zgheib, praised the Zahleh made arak, saying it constitutes a core part of the social and economic fabric of the Bekaa town. He also thanked foreign minister Jibran Bassil for promoting made-in-Lebanon products in the world, namely the arak, wine and traditional mouneh. For his part, Ghassan Khoury, the head of the Lebanese National Energy (LNE), said arak is Lebanon’s national heritage drink that we seek to preserve and develop to pass on to our children, as he put it. “Our support to the production of arak is part of our support to other sectors and goods that are key to the national economy,” Khoury maintained. He hoped it will contribute, albeit partially, to the revival of the domestic economy and to shifting it to a productive one. Likewise, Bassil, described arak as a Levantine drink par-excellence, reminding that the grapes and expertise come from Lebanon, while the anise come from neighboring Syria. The secret of the Lebanese arak lies in the high quality anise seeds used in distilling it, making it a distinguished spirit globally, Bassil boasted. Arak earned a special day, and soon it will have its house in Zahleh and Abrin, due to ongoing cooperation between the private and public sectors and the civil society organizations, Bassil noted, hence speeding up the shift from a rent-based to a productive economy. (Al Diyar, July 27, 2019)
