Prime ministers discuss topical issues of Russia-Lebanon trade, economic, industrial, energy, cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
Meeting with Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad al-Hariri
Excerpts from
the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, Mr al-Hariri.
We are happy to welcome you
at the Government of the Russian Federation.
You
have been to Moscow several times, but your current visit is taking place
during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. As they say in the Middle East,
Ramadan Mubarak.
You
have already spoken with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
We will review matters of
trade and economic cooperation that require our joint attention, namely, the
Government of Lebanon and the Government of the Russian Federation.
First of all, I would like
to praise your principled approach in favour of expanding friendly
Russian-Lebanese relations. You continue the work of your father, Prime
Minister of Lebanon Rafik al-Hariri, in a worthy manner. He made a major
personal contribution to strengthening cooperation between our countries.
Lebanon
is our important partner in the Middle East. Our nations are linked by strong
bonds of friendship and mutual respect. Russia was among the first countries to
recognise the independence of Lebanon, and we consistently support the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Lebanese state.
We
would like to give a new impetus to our trade and economic cooperation.
Unfortunately, mutual trade plunged by 38 percent, due to the coronavirus
infection, and now totals about $320 million. Of course, this situation does
not suit us. We need to rectify this situation and to expand mutual trade.
It
is very important to attract investment, and it is necessary to create the most
favourable conditions for investors. There are good opportunities for doing
this in industrial production, machine building, agriculture, and transport
infrastructure. And, of course, we are happy to offer the most advanced digital
technologies and services in various industrial and economic spheres to the
Lebanese party.
Members
of our joint inter-governmental commission should address all these matters. Quite
recently, Anton Shalayev, Head of Rosstandart (Federal Agency for Technical
Regulation and Metrology), was appointed its Russian co-chair. We are ready to
continue cooperating in fighting the coronavirus pandemic as part of this work.
We have provided humanitarian relief to Lebanon, we have delivered COVID-19
testing kits and reagents, and we will continue this mutual activity.
Russian-Lebanese talks
And,
of course, we consider efforts to strengthen people-to-people contacts to be
the most important aspect of the humanitarian sphere. A large Russian community
has been living in Lebanon since the 20th century, and we consider
it highly important to provide a new impetus to our cooperation in the field of
culture, the arts and people-to-people contacts. I am ready to discuss all
topical matters with you. Mr al-Hariri, you have the floor.
Saad al-Hariri (via interpreter): Thank you very much for your hospitality. I am
also grateful for your warm words in connection with Ramadan. I know that your
country realises the meaning of this month because many Muslims live in Russia.
As you have noted correctly, my father, Rafik al-Hariri, helped establish the
current warm relations between our countries.
You are
well aware that Lebanon is now facing very complicated socioeconomic
conditions, and that the country is in a difficult situation. In these
conditions, we rely on Russia’s all-round assistance to Lebanon, including
efforts to contain the coronavirus infection. You are already providing us with
the relevant assistance in the form of vaccines, which we are actively using to
inoculate our people, but we would like to receive more of them, especially given
the difficulties facing our country. I am talking about the 1.5 million Syrian
refugees on our territory and the socioeconomic conditions I mentioned.
You
also know that Lebanon’s difficulties are linked with the fact that we have so
far failed to establish a government that would launch comprehensive reforms.
But I am confident that this will eventually happen. And when this happens, we
will need external assistance to implement these reforms. In this context, we hope
for Russian corporate investment in power production, infrastructure and
transport. We will be ready to assist Russian companies in every way, so that
they would enter the Lebanese market and provide us with the relevant
assistance.
I
would also like to note that because of the complicated economic conditions, in
fact, the crisis plaguing our country, representatives of the business
community have every chance of entering Lebanon. Now that local prices have
plunged, the Lebanese market is particularly promising.
We
are also reviewing plans to expand the tourism industry, naturally, after the
epidemiological situation returns to normal.
