Ekaterina Zaharieva: Bulgaria, Lebanon to expand cooperation
29 March 2019 NewsThe Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva and her Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil have agreed to invigorate the relations between the two countries in all spheres, including the economy, tourism, education and mutual investments.
The Lebanese Foreign Minister is on his first official visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of Minister Zaharieva. The two Ministers have discussed the full spectrum of bilateral relations, the situation in the Middle East and the possible return of Syrian refugees.
‘Trade between our two countries has been growing, increasing by 20 percent in 2018 over the previous year, to 175 million US dollars. But we both agree that this is utterly insufficient given the possibilities out two countries have. We discussed the setting up of a joint intergovernmental commission for cooperation which, I hope, will soon start to produce results, ‘Minister Zaharieva announced after the meeting. That joint commission will be active in spheres like agriculture, tourism, education and culture. The two Ministers agreed to renew, as soon as this year, the political consultations between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, which have been suspended since 1996.
They also discussed during their meeting the possibility for launching direct flights between Bulgaria and Lebanon, and increasing the flow of tourists from Lebanon into Bulgaria. Currently about 5,000 Lebanese nationals come to Bulgaria for their summer vacations.
Ekaterina Zaharieva also pointed to the traditionally good cooperation between the two countries in the engineering sector. Many Bulgarian engineering companies pursue business ventures in Lebanon. There are also good opportunities for cooperation in the sphere of high technology, education and health care, which could be infused with fresh vigor. Currently there are 50 medical doctors of Lebanese origin working in Bulgaria, and Lebanese 48 students are getting an education in Bulgarian schools of higher learning.
‘We have a lot in common. Bulgaria and Lebanon are both proud of ensuring a peaceful coexistence for the most diverse religions and ethnic groups. I believe the world has a lot to learn from us,’ Minister Zaharieva stated. She also underscored that Lebanon and the other neighboring countries around Syria deserve gratitude, support and assistance for accepting millions of Syrian refugees in their territories. Lebanon alone has provided shelter to almost 1 million Syrians displaced by war. She recalled that at the Brussels III Conference on Syria held two weeks ago in the Belgian capital the international community had decided to allocate 6.2 billion Euros for the Syrian refugees. 80 percent of the funds come from the European Union.
Both she and Minister Gebran Bassil were unanimous that these people should return to their homeland, but not before there is peace and security there. ‘We must create the right conditions for the return of the Syrian refugees, but this should be paired with the start of a political process in that country,’ said Ekaterina Zaharieva.
Gebran Bassil thanked her for the invitation to visit our country. He noted that Lebanon and Bulgaria have a lot in common: geographical proximity, culture, history. ‘We should work to strengthen those ties in the future,’ said the Lebanese Foreign Minister.
His delegation comprises also the State Minister for Foreign Trade Affairs Hasan Murad as well as high-ranking representatives of the Lebanese ministries of foreign affairs and agriculture.