Exclusive: Mansour Bteish, Minister of Economy and Trade
▪ FOCUS ON CONSUMER PROTECTION
▪ UPDATE THE INSURANCE LAW
▪ RESERVED ON CENTRAL BANK’S INTEREST RATE POLICY
In an exclusive interview with Lebanon Opportunities, the Minister of Economy and Trade Mansour Bteish highlighted a series of priorities. “We will work to put an end to waste and reduce the trade deficit,” said the Minister. Bteish has been busy reorganizing the Ministry’s departments in order to achieve better efficiency, to impose stricter control on the markets, to protect consumers, to protect national produce, and to update various laws. He said that the previous national economic model had focused on attracting deposits instead of supporting the productive sectors. “We want to repeal monopolies, support the productive sectors, and give incentives for [the] industry and tourism sectors,” he said. Bteish is confident that the country will not soon fall into default and that it has large potential and significant capabilities.
What are the Ministry’s main achievements since you took office?
It was important as a first step to organize the internal departments. The Ministry imposed more control on the Directorate of
