Iraq's Industry and Minerals Minister Manhal Aziz al-Khabbaz in talks with Prime Minister Najib Mikati Monday morning. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Following meetings between Iraqi and Lebanese delegations, Industry Minister Georges Bouchikian announced that Lebanese will have access to six-month-long multiple-entry visas to Iraq, available through the Iraqi Embassy in Lebanon.
Here’s what we know:
• Iraqi Industry and Minerals Minister Manhal Aziz al-Khabbaz said that, during the meeting, he “gave some notes on the agreement and joint cooperation between Iraq and Lebanon in the industrial field, and we talked about how to open up prospects for cooperation and trade … Our Lebanese colleagues want to send a large ministerial delegation to Iraq to discuss collaboration in all fields, including transportation, internal security, visas, etc.”
• As for the volume of industrial trade between the two countries, Khabbaz said “the foundations of industrial exchange or its quantities [between Lebanon and Iraq] have declined but through the joint cooperation agreement that was signed in Baghdad, and efforts today in Beirut to … proceed with it, we hope that there is a wider scope for cooperation and true partnership between the two countries.”
• He added that Iraq hopes to benefit from trade with Lebanon’s pharmaceutical and food sectors.