Damascus, 21 January 2022 (TDI): The Lebanese Minister of Agriculture, Abbas Al-Hajj Hassan, initiated a visit to Syria to meet his counterpart, Muhammad Hassan Qatna. In addition to the Director-General of The Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), Nasreddin Al-Obeid.
Hajj Hassan’s visit comes to discuss the joint Syrian-Lebanese agricultural relations. Particularly the organization of mechanisms for transporting Lebanese agricultural goods through Syrian territory (transit).
In addition, the two Ministers held talks on the importance of integration among Arab countries to achieve Arab food security.
Press Conference Details
In a press statement following the meeting, Minister Qatana affirmed the need of working to facilitate the exchange of agricultural products. Besides the requirements of production between the two countries to find solutions to problems that may face marketing.
Likewise, the two sides also discussed fees applied to the transportation of trucks and transit and the mechanisms of transporting goods. Regarding that, they agreed to form specialized technical working groups to discuss the topics raised during the current meeting.
Not to mention, to pave the way for the two parties to come up with results that serve their interests in the field of transport and trade exchange.
On the other hand, the Lebanese Minister pointed out the import and export process. Particularly regarding citrus fruits, bananas, and vegetables in the interests of farmers in Syria and Lebanon.
In a similar context, Minister of Transport, Zouheir Khzeim discussed with the Lebanese Minister activating cooperation and confronting repercussions of unilateral coercive economic measures. Those, imposed on Syria, affect the process of transporting goods and land freight movement and transit.
Finally, the Lebanese Minister declared,
“The Syrian side has shown goodwill with regard to export and import. Therefore we promise farmers in Syria and Lebanon that the coming days and hours will bring good tidings in this file”
In this regard, he emphasized having meetings with the competent ministers regarding transit through Syrian territory. This is with the main objective to help in this matter to reduce the fees set in this particular file.
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