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PRESS RELEASE
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Empowering Tripoli’s carpenters with the launch of the MINJARA platform
Under the high patronage of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and in the presence of the European Union Ambassador Christina Lassen, the Ambassador of Poland, Przemyslaw Niesiolowski, the Prime Minister representative Abdel Ghani Kabbara, and the deputies Michel Mouawad and Dr. Ali Darwish, the Association of Lebanese Industrialists with Expertise France officially launched the MINJARA platform at the Oscar Nemeyer pavilion at the Rachid Karami International Fair Tripoli.
This 1,500m2 platform is funded by the European Union and aims to contribute to Lebanon’s economic development by empowering Tripoli’s long-established carpenters and uniting them with architects, designers and owners of furniture showrooms from Lebanon and the world in order to revive the wood industry in the region.
The creation of the MINJARA platform was made possible through the European Union’s Private Sector Development programme that has the ambitious objective of promoting economic development and supporting small enterprises to become more competitive. It is the biggest project funded by the European Union that is solely focusing on private sector development in Lebanon.
The Prime Minister representative and adviser for North Lebanon, Abdel Ghani Kabbara spoke about the importance of such partnerships between Lebanese and international parties in developing the furniture sector and working effectively to restore the vital role of Tripoli in the economy, reaffirming that the security and stability in Tripoli.
Abdul Ghani Kabara spoke about the importance of developing the furniture sector and working seriously to restore the vital role of Tripoli in the economy of the region, Tripoli in the current stage helps to attract investments that are based on security and stability, and this is what we are seeing in Tripoli today.”
European Union Ambassador Christina Lassen underlined that “this opening is an indication of the level of importance that the European Union is attaching to entrepreneurship in this country”. “Lebanon’s economy needs successful small enterprises and entrepreneurs like you”, she added. “We hope that this new platform will become a Centre of Excellence for carpenters in Tripoli and North Lebanon and a national hub for the Tripoli furniture community”.
For his part, Herve Conan, Director of Operations at Expertise France, stressed that “the collaboration between the public and private sectors is crucial to revive the furniture industry in the region, and the next challenge is to ensure that this platform will survive beyond the project’s duration”. Conan also announced that the first collection of furniture will be launched in December 2018.
Dr. Toufic Dabbousi, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and agriculture of Tripoli and North Lebanon said in his speech that the cooperation of the international community with Tripoli and North Lebanon is capable of playing a large investment role on a national scale, which is providing job opportunities.
During the event, Akram Oueida, President of the Rashid Karami International Fair explained that “there are more than 700 sawmill factories in the heart of Tripoli, the capital of furniture”, adding that “the economic recession has heavily affected the wood industry and this project comes to revive the hopes of the carpenters as well as furniture designers and vendors”.
MINJARA is funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France. The platform was developed with the support of the Rashid Karami International Fair in Tripoli, the Association of Lebanese Industrialists, the Chamber of Commerce of Tripoli, the Business Incubator ‘BIAT’, syndicates as well as all other stakeholders involved in the initiative. |
