Lebanese President Michel Aoun is preparing for a joint economic market initiative that involves Arab countries, the President’s political and communication advisor, Antoine Constantine, has announced.
In a tweet on Friday, Constantine stated that President Aoun‘s initiative seeks to “establish a common economic market that includes Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, and integrates with the wider Arab market.”
“An initiative that opens up great horizons and many hopes for the Lebanese, and preserves for each country its sovereignty and independence under the ceiling of mutual respect,” he explained.
The announcement came a day after Aoun met with Iraqi Health Minister Hassan Tamimi, with whom the Lebanese President discussed strengthening mutual cooperation between Iraq and Lebanon in various sectors.
Tamimi was quoted by the Lebanese Presidency as declaring that the Iraqi government intended to support Lebanon “at all levels, the first of which is the health field.”
In turn, President Aoun expressed hope to reach a joint market between the countries of the Arab Mashreq region which, the Presidency stated, “he had always sought to achieve in the past before the wars that were witnessed by the region’s countries.”
The President’s media office also quoted him as saying during the meeting that he would review the possibility of proposing this initiative again.
Notably, during his visit to Lebanon on Thursday, Tamimi signed with his Lebanese counterpart, caretaker Minister Hamad Hasan, a framework agreement to exchange oil for medical services. The deal will be finalized after a Lebanese delegation visits Iraq.
