After Lebanon's economic crisis in 2019, aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut port explosion, the country's economy collapsed, devaluing the national currency, the Lebanese pound, and leading to a shortage of dollars, used in daily transactions in the country. This led to the ruin of thousands of companies, which had to close their doors and lay off their employees, creating a liquidity crisis that made Lebanese try to access their savings in banks, in vain. So much so, that in 2021, the World Bank published a report in which it warned that Lebanon's economic crisis could become one of the three most serious since the mid-19th century.

In this context, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of Lebanon, in collaboration with strategic partners such as the Zhale & Bekka Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture; the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Tripoli and North Lebanon; the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount-Lebanon; the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Sidon and South Lebanon and the startup shuttle Berytech, shape LebFresh.

As part of this promotion and branding iniciative, Dr. Khaled El Omari, Head of Quality Control Center Laboratories from the Center for Industrial Development and Agricultural Research of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Tripoli and North Lebanon, who is present these days at the stand of LebFresh in Fruit Attraction, explains to Infoagro that "Lebanon is one of the agricultural countries of the Middle East, famous for producing avocados, table grapes, cherries, bananas and many other fruits, but three years ago, after the Lebanese crisis in 2019, we find in trade a challenge that we are trying to overcome with multiple initiatives to support Lebanese farmers and production, focused on quality, safety and traceability of products. For this reason, we are here today, at the Lebanon Pavilion in Fruit Attraction, with the Import Promotion Center (CBI) of Holland and with Dutch NGOs, which are collaborating with us, with the Chambers of Commerce, and with several Lebanese exporters."

In this way, Mr. El Omari explains that in Lebanon Pavilion there are 10 Lebanese fruit and vegetable exporters doing business to find new markets and penetrate into the European markets, so that they increase their profits and can strengthen their fruit and vegetable businesses: "The objective of this collaboration between the Lebanese Chambers of Commerce and the Dutch CBI is very promising to increase our exports, especially of those products that are in the Top 10, such as avocado, cherries, bananas, citrus, carrots and table grapes. This is our plan to save Lebanon, for which we need to find new markets."

In this sense, Dr. Khaled El Omari refers to the importance that collaborations between import promotion entities from other countries, such as the Dutch CBI, have for his country, in order to be able to open new markets to Lebanese horticultural productions that allow the reconstruction of its economy.

Furthermore, Mr. El Omari confesses that Lebanon is a country rich in water for irrigation, since it has four seasons and multiple sources of water, such as springs, wellwater, rivers, as well as service water, and even water from the melting ice of the mountains, although he indicates that there are some villages in which there is a lack of water, for which the Lebanese Chambers of Commerce, together with NGOs and the Ministry of Agriculture of Lebanon, are preparing projects that support farmers to grow their production properly, which is why they are looking at high-tech systems for irrigation, such as dropping irrigation or other types of smart technology that save water.

Infoagro Editorial: R. G. / N. M. / Lydia Medero