Exporters and Farmers Meet the Minister of Economy to Open New Markets For the Lebanese Products

Beirut, on July 20th, 2011 – The Investment Development Authority of Lebanon “IDAL” organized a meeting between the exporters and the Minister of Economy and Tourism in Curacao Abdel Nasser Hakim at its headquarters in Beirut, in order to open new markets for the Lebanese agricultural products. The Commercial Attaché of the Netherlands Embassy in Beirut Tarek Ouerghi and the exporters affiliated to the Export Plus program in addition to representatives of accredited quality control companies attended the meeting.

The Chairman of “IDAL”, Engineer Nabil Itani, underlined in his speech the necessity of opening new markets for the Lebanese products and enhancing the availability of the Lebanese goods in several regions worldwide, mainly in Latin American countries since they embrace a considerable number of Lebanese immigrants and natives and thus, constitute a promising market for the Lebanese.

Itani stated that the volume of exports to this region is still very limited and does not exceed 1% of the Lebanese total exports worldwide. The volume amounted to 3,288 tons in 2010, knowing that Brazil is the largest importer of Lebanese products in this region with a percentage of 31%.

Itani considered that the exporters have golden opportunities in this market, and he explained that the project aims, firstly, at benefiting from the potentials and capacities that these countries hold, by investing part of them in Lebanon, and, secondly, at benefiting from the Lebanese presence there in order to increase the volume of commercial exchange.

As for Minister Hakim, he highlighted in his intervention the advantages that Curacao enjoys in terms of internal market and strategic geographic location next to the countries of Latin America. The Minister also stressed the importance of promoting the agro-industrial exports to these countries. He explained that this country largely relies on importation in order to meet the needs of the citizens; especially that it receives a huge number of tourists annually. Furthermore, he addressed the scarcity of agricultural products in this country, which leads to an increase in prices, particularly with the increase of global warming and natural disasters, the use of some agricultural products for the production of bio-fuel, and the increase in the world demand for food, in addition to the rise in fuel prices and the fact that some countries cannot export their products.

Minister Hakim answered the questions of the exporters concerning the transportation means and the required specifications. At the end of the meeting, an agreement was concluded concerning the necessity of determining the types of products that can be exported, so that a commercial delegation to this region is formed at a later stage in order to meet with the importers and merchants there.

The article above has been published by IDAL – Investment Development Authority of Lebanon. It can be accessed via Internet at the following web address: http://www.idal.com.lb/