Minister Abou Faour: "Protectionist measures approved and irreversible Greatly beneficial to the Clothing industry
The Minister of Industry, Mr. Wael Abou Faour, met this afternoon with a delegation of clothing manufacturers from various parts of Lebanon. They thanked him for the protectionist measures taken by the Council of Ministers which affected the textile and clothing sector by 10%. According to these manufacturers, such measures- that the Minister of Industry is working to consolidate and expand at a later stage- protect the sector and help restoring its role and encourage industrialists to reinvest in it
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They explained how this sector accounted for 22% of national industrial sector, compared to only 6% today. In the past, it secured tens of thousands of jobs, reduced to seven thousands jobs at present day.
Minister Abou Faour confirmed that the protectionist measures are approved and irreversible, and the Clothing Sector will greatly benefit from them. He asserted that new measures and decisions will be adopted to support, modernize and develop the industrial sector.
The delegation members informed him of the many obstacles hindering the sector’s growth, mainly high production cost, shortage of Lebanese labor specialized and experienced in tailoring, in addition to dumping, smuggling, and tax evasion by tampering tariffs lines and recording shipments as second handed clothes.
After that, Minister Abou Faour held a telephone conversation with Minster of Labor, Mr. Camille Abou Sleiman, on finding alternatives to facilitate the provision of labor force for clothing manufacturers. He also contacted the Director General of Lebanese Customs, Mr. Badri Daher and informed him of the large smuggled quantities of clothing unloaded in many regions, and the need to combat this plague and impose the most severe sanctions against violators and traders who deal with smuggled goods
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Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the MoI and the American University of Science & Technology (AUST)
Minister Abu Faour and the President of the AUST University, Ms. Hiam Sakr signed a MOU between the ministry and the university for the exchange of expertise and knowledge within the research and academic framework.
The MOU covered the following areas of cooperation:
- The MoI shall commit to receive AUST students, including Masters students, seeking practical experience, vocational training or preparing Master's thesis on food safety, under the purview of the Ministry.
- The University students shall assist the Ministry in the periodic inspection of food establishments in terms of implementing basic food safety standards through data collection that cover all production stages, from reception of raw materials to final products, to ensure that manufactured food products meet food safety requirements before being put on the market.
- Students carry out the tasks entrusted to them according to the working procedure established by relevant entities in the ministry, including preparation of factory audit checklists, distribution of responsibilities within working groups, and communication with factories.
- Students shall write periodic reports after each field visit recording conformities or non-conformities to food safety requirements. Accordingly, action plans will be developed to help factories improve the quality of production.
- Students shall help the ministry’s working team to take food samples during inspections and properly carry these samples to the accredited laboratories.