Lebanese Republic 
A Lebanese Turkish economic expanded meeting in Istanbul
An economic expanded meeting was held Thursday morning in Istanbul between Ministry of Economy and Trade and Ministry of State for Foreign Trade on the one hand and Ministry of Turkish trade on the other hand. The lebanese delegation included Minister of Economy and Trade, Mansour Bteish, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Hassan Mourad, the Prime Minister Advisor Mr. Fadi Fawaz; the President of the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Bilal Nsouli; Director General of Port of Tripoli Mr. Ahmad Tamer; the Advisor of the Economy Minister, Bruno Zaher in addition to number of iron and scrap traders: Fadi Chahrour, Rachid Keserwani and Nidal Beani.
On the Turkish part, the delegation included the Turkish Minister of Trade, Ruhsar Peckan; Director General of Customs, Mustapha Gomez; Director General of Importation, Ahmad Arkan and Director of the Safety & Radiological Tests Department, Hakki Burakli.
The Turkish Minister began the meeting by talking about the fraternal ties that connect Lebanon to Turkey and tackled main issues falling within the frame of organizing the economic and trade relations between the two countries, especially in the following fields:
- Reactivate the work of the Lebanese -Turkish Joint Committee that did not meet since 2009;
- Derestrict the lebanese import ban in terms of some Turkish products such as Chocolate wafer and cleaning supplies;
- Approve a Free trade agreement between both countries;
- Coordinate between the two countries at all international economic instances, namely the World Trade Organization;
- Sign a maritime contract of carriage between the two countries;
- View the conditions related to the turkish ban of importing lebanese goods for technical reasons.
On his turn, Minister Bteish stressed the importance of the historic fraternal relations between Lebanon and Turkey showing the size of the trade and touristic exchange between the two countries, serving the interest of Turkey; underlining the willingness of the Lebanese government to enhance and develop this exchange which serves the best interests of the two countries.
As for Turkey’s decision banning the import of scrap from Lebanon for its fear of containing prohibited materials affecting the public health, Minister Bteish assured Lebanon’s commitment to all international requirements of radioactive examination through its competent administrative, customs and technical authorities, in particular the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission stressing that all lebanese land, sea and air crossings are controlled by the latest equipments as well as by competent experts to prevent the export of any prohibited material.
To this end, Minister Bteish addressed a formal invitation to the Turkish Minister inviting a Turkish expert team to visit Lebanon to view the procedures adopted in the tests taking place before exporting scrap to Turkey and which Lebanon currently apply in accordance with internationally adopted standards. In addition, Minister Bteish demanded the Turkish side to raise the ban decision regarding the scrap export to Turkey for a period of 3 months waiting for the visit of the Turkish experts and the issuance of their report. Minister Bteish also promised to issue a Council of Ministers decision allowing Lebanon to re-import Turkish goods that were previously banned.
The Prime Minister Advisor Mr. Fadi Fawaz made an intervention whereof he stressed the importance of the Turkish private sector and businessmen contribution in Cedar project as well as the public-private partnership projects in Lebanon.
In this regard, the President of the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Bilal Nsouli provided the Turkish side with a detailed report about the procedures and electronic equipments used at the borders crossings.
At the end of the meeting, Turkish Minister confirmed her openness toward addressing the pending trade problems between the two countries and asked to be given additional time to answer the lebanese requests, namely offering a grace period of 3 months for the scrap export to Turkey.
After the meeting, the two Lebanese Ministers and the accompanying delegation were invited to lunch from the Lebanese - Turkish Business Council where discussions tackled ways of promoting the trade and economic cooperation between Lebanon and Turkey. For this occasion, the Council offered Ministers Bteish and Mourad honorary shields given the highest expectations and hopes to develop and promote the lebanese economy as well as to create an attractive investment environment between the two countries.
