Beirut, 19 December, 2017. Italian Ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. Massimo Marotti, the UNIDO Representative for Lebanon, Mr. Cristiano Pasini, and with the presence of the Minister of Industry, Dr. Hussein Hajj Hassan and the President of CDR, Dr. Nabil El Jisr, announced a € 500,000 grant to UNIDO to continue assistance to the Government of Lebanon in establishing sustainable industrial zones in Lebanon.
The event was held at the Ministry of Industry. The new project “Supporting the development industrial zones – Phase II” will be implemented by UNIDO in close coordination with the Ministry of Industry and the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR). Building on the results of the first phase of the project, UNIDO will continue to provide technical assistance and advisory support to the Government of Lebanon in deploying a national industrial zone development strategy and advisory support for sustainable industrial zones development and management.
“The Minister of Industry asked UNIDO’s support in their efforts towards the development of sustainable Industrial Zones and, in doing so, provide a platform to foster Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization (ISID) and create job opportunities,” said Mr. Pasini, UNIDO Representative. “We were happy to acknowledge that as result of our technical cooperation in the first phase of this project, the European Investment bank (EIB) will provide 52 MLN Euro loan to the Government of Lebanon to build the required infrastructure”.
Pasini also said that in the new phase the Ministry of industry and other stakeholders will be exposed to best practices and international experiences in industrial zone development.
H.E Mr. Massimo Marotti, Ambassador of Italy to Lebanon stressed on the importance of supporting the Lebanese government in its effort to promote job creation and to provide the youth with new job opportunities. “Italy supports the development of industrial zones in Lebanon. In the first phase we granted 500 000 Euro for the feasibility study by UNIDO and we are happy to fund also the second phase”.
Background
UNIDO, with Italian funds from started in 2016 the project “Supporting the Development of Industrial Zones in Lebanon” to prepare master-plans for three sustainable industrial zones in Lebanon identified by the Ministry of Industry. In addition to the grant assistance provided through UNIDO, the Government of Italy will also support the Government of Lebanon with a bilateral soft loan of Euro 7 mln to finance the construction of the three zones. In May 2017, UNIDO completed the feasibility studies including environmental and social impact assessments for the areas. Based on the studies, the development of infrastructure will require approximately $120 million and will generate between 27,000 to 31,000 jobs.