Tripoli, 11 September:
The Lebanese economy minister, Nicolas Nahas, has said: “Lebanon and Libya are destined for economic integration” at a news . . .[restrict]conference in Beirut. He said potential economic opportunities would be discussed at a forthcoming investment forum here, in Tripoli.
“Libya’s geographic location can facilitate the tapping of African markets, where Lebanese merchants play a very active role.” Nahas said. He added that unprecedented growth in Libya’s economy was expected, saying: “This promises bright opportunities for Lebanese companies.”
The investment forum will be held in Tripoli on 18 November. It is being organised by the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL), Libya’s Privatisation and Investment Board and Al-Iktissad Wal-Aaal, a business events group, based in Lebanon.
Hassan bin Taher, head of Libya’s Privatisation and Investment Board said that the forum would be crucial for exchanging knowledge on the available investment opportunities in the two countries.
Nahas said that the forum: “would be a first step in a journey of a thousand miles, to re-establish relations between the two countries after decades of their demise.”
Links with Lebanon were fractured following the 1978 disappearance of the Lebanese Shiite cleric, Imam Musa Sadr. Sadr, along with Sheikh Mohammed Yaacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine. They went missing when they visited Tripoli at the invitation of Muammar Qaddafi. What happened to the imam and his colleagues has never been established. [/restrict]
