Al-Saedi: agreements with Syria encourage investment

Lebanese Economy Minister Nasser al-Saeedi said that the Lebanese-Syrian agreements aim at "encouraging investment." He referred to "current joint trade projects for which necessary financing is underway."

In statements to reporters following the recent meeting of the Syrian-Lebanese joint committee in Beirut, chaired by the two countries' prime ministers, al-Saeedi described the joint economic meeting between the two countries as "a beginning for a strategic economic relation which will be marked by implementing the custom fees procedure between the two countries as of the first day of 1999, and these fees are to be canceled gradually within four years."

He considered what had been achieved by the committee was "a new start for relations between the two countries, especially economic ones."

He indicated, "Trade will be on top of the priorities and that Syria and Lebanon have an integrated economy and we will work to develop the two countries' economies in agricultural and industrial areas, especially in agricultural industries."