RIYADH, 23 February 2004 — Lebanon is scouting for new investment opportunities in the tourism, health care and education sectors.
The call came at the second Saudi-Lebanese Forum which Riyadh Governor Prince Salman inaugurated here yesterday in the presence of Lebanon’s Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
It was the second such forum organized by Al-Iqtissad Wal Aamal magazine to identify joint venture possibilities between the two countries.
Last year, some 400 businessmen attended the first Saudi-Lebanese Economic Forum aimed at strengthening economic and commercial ties between the two countries.
The theme of discussions on both the occasion was ways of boosting cooperation in the areas of tourism, banking, investment, education, health, information technology, communications and real estate.
Both Prince Salman and Hariri underlined the long-standing relations between the two countries. Prince Salman said the forum would help strengthen bilateral relations.
Prince Salman underlined the importance of Arab cooperation for the promotion of mutual interests. The Kingdom was the architect of the 1989 Taif Peace Accord that ended Lebanon’s 15-year civil war.
Hariri said the private sector was now the driving force in any effort to integrate Arab economies. “Our duty as Arab governments is to provide the legal and institutional framework to facilitate private sector initiatives and let the private sector do its job.”
Later, Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, president of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the policy of economic reforms in the Kingdom and Lebanon reflected the keenness of both countries to respond to the challenges of globalization.
The forum is also expected to identify the obstacles facing joint investment projects, and the reasons for a decline in trade exchange.
Lebanon’s exports to the Kingdom declined from SR457 in 1991 to SR173 million last year. The two countries have established 190 joint ventures.
Lebanese ministers of trade, industry and agriculture, and representatives of the chambers of commerce and associations of contractors, hotels, hospitals and travel and tourism agents attended the meeting.
