During a joint press conference on Friday, caretaker Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad and caretaker Industry Minister Imad Hoballah launched a campaign aimed at supporting the Lebanese industry.
Titled “Industry Supports Lebanon,” the information campaign comes in the wake of the financial, economic, social, health, and security crises that Lebanon is suffering from.
It focuses on encouraging local industry, especially the manufacturing of products that have been proven to mitigate the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), Abdel Samad said during the press conference.
The campaign will run in coordination with Lebanon’s state-run TV station, Télé Liban, and will promote Lebanon’s industry capabilities.
One of its goals, Abdel Samad said, is to reduce the trade deficit and, in turn, “contribute by offering products that mitigate the coronavirus pandemic through our dependence on the local market and securing our needs from this market, thus reducing our needs for foreign currencies.”
Additionally, the plan aims at encouraging export so that hard currency becomes more abundant in Lebanon, “which contributes to strengthening our economy, the role of the lira, and securing economic growth.”
With that said, the official explained that the main objective of the campaign is to create job opportunities for all workers in Lebanon who have skills and specialties to secure jobs at local factories, which would help attract foreign investors.
On his part, Hoballah urged the Lebanese people to use Lebanese products, noting that if they don’t, it will be “as if they are contributing to the increase in prices and taking the dollar out of Lebanon overseas or exchanging it at the black market price.”
It’s worth noting that the Industry Ministry recently published a list of 200 job vacancies at factories across Lebanon.
