According to the daily newspaper “L’orient-Le Jour”, the president of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists, Fadi Abboud, delivered the shaper sector demands to the new Minister of Industry, Ghazi Zeaiter, whom he met yesterday, asking him to call up the law of the protection of local production, an issue the industrialists addressed to all ministers.

“We informed the minister about the problems facing the industry Uniceramic, which found itself in difficulty although it is modern and productive. This was due to the subsidies given by Egypt and UAE on their ceramic production, violating all the free-trade agreements. Consequently, the cost of energy consumed by Uniceramic has become 25 times higher than the one paid by its Egyptians and Emirati competitors”, noted the president of the Association of the Industrialists.

Fadi Abboud also indicated that Ghazi Zeaiter promised to register the application of the law of protection of the local production and the re-establishment of the taxes on the imports of ceramics on the schedule of the council of the Ministers. He also asked for the elimination of the Value Added Tax (VAT) imposed on the fuel. “The State raked in 50 million dollars of revenues thanks to the VAT on the fuel last year. This year, it should have 100 million dollars. This is not acceptable in the actual context since we all know that the fuel is a fundamental raw material for the industry and the daily life of the population”, he concluded.