Aoun’s visit to Saudi Arabia .. This is how it will wear positively on Lebanon

The President of the Phenomenon, General Joseph Aoun, chose the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to be the destination of his first external visit. Yesterday evening, official talks were held with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, which discussed the development of bilateral relations and joint files between the two countries, and to pave the way for the signing of a number of agreements in various fields during a later visit that President Aoun will soon be made to the Kingdom.

With the visit of the President of the Republic to Riyadh, observers expect that the historical relations between the two countries will soon return to its previous era, and to reflect positively on Lebanon, especially with regard to the tourism, industrial and commercial sector.
The owners of these sectors are based on this visit, hoping that Saudi and Gulf tourists return to Lebanon as soon as possible, and be able to re -export Lebanese products to Saudi Arabia and all the Gulf states, knowing that the Gulf markets, especially Saudi Arabia, are one of the most important markets for Lebanese exports, as Lebanon’s exports to the Kingdom were annually reaching about 500 million dollars, until Riyadh stopped importing Lebanese products in 2021 due to smuggling prohibitions such as Captagon, which led to Lebanon’s loss, one of its most important main markets.

An industrial delegation soon to Saudi Arabia
In this context, the Vice -President of the Industrialists Association, Ziyad Bakdash, confirms through “Lebanon 24” that “Lebanon has entered into a new turning point for the better, after the election of the President of the Republic, Joseph Aoun, the formation of the government headed by Nawaf Salam and its obtaining the confidence of the parliament and work to implement international decisions”, considering that “these developments will reopen the door for confidence with the Arab brothers after a break of more than 6 years.”
Bakdash hopes after the visit of President Aoun to open a new page with Saudi Arabia, noting that “the personal relationship between economic bodies and political officials in the Gulf states are fraternal relations and continued despite the interruption, but they were affected by the export level.”
He pointed out that “the return of the travel of Saudis and the Gulf to Lebanon will have the largest role in moving the Lebanese economy. The economy is a interconnected series. If tourism is fine, then all other sectors will also be fine.”
Bakdash pointed out that “Lebanon’s exports to Saudi Arabia were between 250 and 300 million dollars annually, and the problem in recent years was not only with the Kingdom, but also with Bahrain and a number of Gulf countries, but this situation will differ now.”

“In 2021, industrial foods decreased locally, and we hoped that the exports value would be 600 million dollars, but crises continued and we could not achieve this.” He stressed that “primarily is required in the first place to raise the ban on the travel of the Saudis to Lebanon and secondly the return of export to Saudi Arabia,” and added: “But the most important question will we be able to restore our share in the Gulf markets and our role after the absence of more than 6 years, especially with the entry of Chinese and Turkish products to it and their solutions in the place of the Lebanese product?
“The Saudis and the Gulf in general prefer the Lebanese product, but now the competition will be more fierce than 2019, but we will try to restore the largest part of the Gulf market.”
He continues: “A number of Lebanese industrialists will travel soon to Saudi Arabia to re -study the market and contact their customers there in order to resume what they were doing before 2019”, and he pointed out that “a number of industrialists had to transfer their factories to other Arab countries to be able to export their products to Saudi Arabia.”
In conclusion, Bakdash reaffirms that “the study of the Gulf markets must be re -studied to find out what is the situation of the Lebanese industrialist with new speculators such as Turkey and China because all the data differed from the previous one,” hoping that “President Aoun’s visit to Riyadh is a new start and contribute to the return of brotherly relations between the two countries as it was in the past and the re -export that stopped since 2019”.

The tourism sector is preparing
For his part, the head of the Tourism Syndicates Union and the captain of hotel owners, Pierre Al -Ashqar, expressed his optimism that a tourist renaissance in Lebanon occurred, noting that “the speech of the President of the Republic, Joseph Aoun, upon his election and the ministerial statement of the new government, is a map to restore Lebanon to what it was before the crises, that is, to be a safe country and without wars.”
Al -Ashqar said in an interview with “Lebanon 24”: “If Lebanon returns a stable country with one army and a country that holds the decision of peace and war and starting with reforms, especially with regard to the judiciary, then this map will restore tourism and industry and contribute to the prosperity of Lebanon and the return of investments to it.” He stressed that “the positive atmosphere in Lebanon currently prompted hotel owners in Beirut and various regions to rehabilitate their institutions in preparation for receiving Arab and foreign tourists”, pointing out that “investments in Lebanon in relation to hotels are mostly Gulf investments such as the Forenses Hotel, Habitor and others.”
He pointed out that “before 2017 he was visiting Lebanon about 400 or 500 thousand Saudi tourists, including those who were spending a long vacation, including the festive period, and some of them were visiting Lebanon only for 3 days or 4 days,” noting that “currently there is a good number of Kuwaitis who came to enjoy Lebanon’s snow.”
On the competition of other countries, Lebanon is a tourist, Al -Ashqar says: “It is true that there are many destinations other than Lebanon, but Lebanon remains the spoiled son for the Saudis and the Gulf, and it provides tourist services and a quality of life that cannot be found in other countries and this is what distinguishes it.”

Al -Ashqar stressed that “the tourism sector is in a permanent readiness to receive tourists even on crisis days, and there are new tourist areas that were not on the map of tourism in Lebanon and all regions have become adopting a promotional and marketing policy that puts it at the heart of competition.” He pointed out that “the visit of President Aoun yesterday, Monday, will pave the way for the agreements that will later be signed between the two countries.”
So the industrialists and owners of tourism institutions are counting on the return of relations with Saudi Arabia to its golden age, and the Lebanese are counting on the support of Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, which has always stood by Lebanon in the darkest conditions.