By Ajnadin Mustafa.
Cairo, 15 August 2017:
In the continuing row over the presence of Italian naval vessels in Libya waters, the interim government of Abdullah Al-Thinni has said that no new contracts will be given to Italian companies.
According to the Beida-based government’s Facebook page, economy and industry minister Munir Ali Asr has decreed that Italian companies will be banned from winning new contracts nor have existing ones extended. Additionally, Italian companies will not be allowed to set up joint venture with Libyan ones.
This was “until further notice”, a ministry statement said.
The reason for the move was that Italy had become “hostile to the Libyan people”, Asr was reported by the Libyan news agency LANA as saying.
Libya would do business with its friends, he stated, adding that there were plenty of countries, other than Italy, that had the technology Libya wanted.
Since the revolution, Italy’s exports to Libya and business dealings there have soared. Just last month, an Italian consortium won the new contact to rebuild Tripoli international airport, although this is reported to have now been referred to the Audit Bureau for assessment.
