Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan described his visit to Syria as “positive and fruitful” during an interview broadcast on MTV on Thursday.
Here’s what we know:
• Hajj Hassan said that the demands presented during his visit to Syria were “approved,” claiming outcomes including doubled banana exports, an agreement on the payment mechanism in Syrian lira with the Syrian central bank with the support of the Syrian agriculture minister, and reduced refrigerator truck tariffs for Lebanese products.
• The agriculture minister also said that “the ministry is not looking for alternatives to Saudi markets but additional markets Lebanese products would “definitely be returning to Saudi markets” and claimed that “international drug smuggling is the biggest threat to Lebanon.” Saudi Arabia placed an import ban on Lebanese products last year following the discovery of captagon, an illicit stimulant, in a shipment of pomegranates from Lebanon.
• The interview also included insights into the ministry’s plans, which include supplying saffron bulbs to farmers, decrees for the application of the law on growing cannabis for medical purposes and continued efforts to secure grants from the Food and Agriculture Organization. Hajj Hassan also criticized the funds allocated to the Agriculture Ministry in Lebanon’s budget, claiming that the ministry would be “unable to continue” with the amount.