NNA - Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Tuesday chaired a meeting at the Grand Serail devoted to discussing the country’s food security and wheat cultivation.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Agriculture, Abbas Hajj Hassan, Minister of Economy and Trade, Amin Salam, and other concerned officials.
In the wake of the meeting, Minister Salam said that the meeting mainly discussed a joint project between the Ministries of Agriculture and Economy for the future of wheat in Lebanon.
“Lebanon has potentials and intentions to increase local production of soft wheat that is used to make bread,” Salam affirmed.
“Our meeting today was to put forward a plan of action in this regard; there is complete coordination between the ministries of agriculture and economy regarding this plan, especially due to its necessity in terms of food and national security. The most important thing is that this agreement will lead to a balance between wheat import and local production,” Salam explained.
“We will decrease imports in certain proportions while raising local production, and if this plan is seriously adopted and supported by the state and successive governments, we will be able to decrease imports by 15 percent,” Salam added.
In response to a question about the amount of wheat that is currently available in the Lebanese market, Salam addressed those fearing a shortage of wheat, reassuring them that a $21 million credit was recently released by the Central Bank for the purchase of approximately 45 thousand tons of wheat while 40,000 tons were currently available in Lebanon.
“In our meeting today, President Mikati's message was very clear, which is to rationalize this sector in order to preserve the citizen's livelihood and the bundle of bread in particular,” Salam concluded.
For his part, the Minister of Agriculture explained that today’s meeting was also a preparation for the cabinet session next Thursday.
“We cannot talk about a ‘renaissance’ of the wheat sector unless there is a specific price linked to the international one, a matter which has been agreed upon with the Minister of Economy,” he added.
Separately, Mikati had an audience today with the Ambassadors of Australia, Andrew Barnes, and Ukraine, Ihor Ostash, with whom he discussed bilateral ties.
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