Hariri confirms the strength of Lebanese-UAE relations

Abu Dhabi 07-10-2019 / WAM
Prime Minister Saad Hariri affirmed the strong and historical ties between the UAE and Lebanon, praising the UAE’s leadership and people’s stances towards Lebanon at all levels and its support for the Lebanese economy.
“The UAE’s leadership, government and people will stand beside Lebanon in the memory and hearts of all Lebanese,” he said, stressing that Lebanon will not forget the UAE’s support in the reconstruction phase after years of civil war, and in every crisis, whether to rebuild what was destroyed by the Israeli attacks. For its generous contribution to the international conferences that have been allocated to support the Lebanese economy. ”
This came during the second UAE-Lebanese Investment Conference, which opened today in Abu Dhabi, Saad Hariri and His Excellency Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, organized by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy amid a large and high-level presence of their Excellencies, ministers, members of the diplomatic corps and officials from both sides. Various economic and development sectors.
In his speech, Mr. Hariri pointed out to the investment opportunities in Lebanon. “If we combine the Lebanese and UAE private sectors, we can accomplish a lot for Lebanon, especially for the region in general,” he said, noting that Lebanon could be a cornerstone for all UAE companies to invest in the future in all fields. With the Lebanese private sector. ”
He pointed out that the Lebanese government presented at the conference “Cedar” a comprehensive vision aimed at achieving stability, growth and job creation, through rehabilitation of infrastructure and modernization of procedures and legislation and the advancement of productive sectors, calling on UAE investors to study these projects, which constitute real opportunities for investment, specifically through partnership between Public and private sectors.
For his part, His Excellency Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri Lal appreciated the attendance of Saad Hariri to this conference in its second session, pointing to the brotherly and historical ties that bind the UAE and the Lebanese Republic.
He said: “Over the past decades and years, Lebanon has provided the Arab region with some of the most prominent minds and talents in the various fields of science, knowledge, literature, arts, management and economics. We are keen to be partners in our countries’ march towards progress and prosperity. ”
He stressed that this good and high-level attendance of officials and businessmen from both countries carries a clear indication that we are on the right track. We met last year during the first session of this pioneering investment conference, and came up with a set of understandings and recommendations for joint work in a range of important economic sectors. We are renewing the meeting today more broadly, with greater goals and with more optimistic aspirations for the future. ”
Al Mansouri said in a quick reading of the indicators of trade and investment cooperation that significant progress has been achieved in the last year in terms of non-oil trade exchange between the two countries, totaling more than US $ 2.6 billion, a growth of 34% compared to 2017.
He pointed out that during the period from 2017 to 2018, UAE imports from Lebanon grew by about 21%, while re-export activities from the UAE to Lebanon increased by more than 55%, and according to the figures of the first quarter of 2019, we find that non-oil foreign trade between The two countries approached $ 700 million, growing by 37% compared to the same period in 2018.These figures indicate that trade exchange between the two countries is heading towards achieving a threshold of $ 3 billion by the end of this year.
The UAE is the largest Arab trade partner for Lebanon and the seventh largest trading partner in the world.It also ranks first in the world in receiving Lebanese exports, accounting for 14% of Lebanon’s merchandise exports in 2018.
On the investment side, the UAE markets attracted Lebanese direct investments that exceeded $ 2.2 billion until the beginning of 2018 with an annual growth rate of more than 39%, distributed over vital sectors such as the financial sector, real estate, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, information and communications technology, education, logistics and others.
In contrast, the balance of UAE direct investments in Lebanon to 2016 amounted to more than $ 7.1 billion, which also included important sectors such as seaport operations, pharmaceutical industry, information technology services, air transport, tourism, hospitality, real estate activities, banking, energy and petrochemical industries.
“We are facing a vibrant environment of economic cooperation, but we still have a wide range of opportunities and sectors in which we can enhance our mutual investment activities. To achieve this we need to continue dialogue and cooperation to ensure a greater role for investment companies and the private sector in both countries, and this is perhaps the main objective of this distinguished conference.
“During the conference sessions, we will discuss ways to expand investments and develop the investment environment in partnership between the public and private sectors, focusing on exploring opportunities in the fields of agriculture and food products, and will review the prospects for cooperation in the sectors of infrastructure, oil and gas, renewable energy, banking and financial sector.” .
The UAE economy is one of the most diversified in the region. The contribution of non-oil sectors to the country’s GDP exceeded 70%.
And Antal