The Benghazi Chamber of Commerce reported Wednesday that it met with a commercial delegation from Tunisia, Spain and Senegal on Monday.
The meeting was held at Benghazi Chamber’s headquarters in the presence of the head of the (eastern region) Municipal Guard, Major General Tawfiq Al-Masari, as well as Brigadier General Faraj Al-Agouri, Head of the Benghazi Municipal Guard. Benghazi Chamber did not clarify why the foreign delegation was meeting the Municipal Guard.
Benghazi Chamber of Commerce reported that they discussed ‘‘prospects for joint cooperation and job opportunities available in the public and private sectors and opening bridges of communication between businessmen and companies in order to stimulate trade and support the economy locally and internationally’’.
Foreign delegation visits Electricity Ministry
On Wednesday, the Chamber reported that the same foreign delegation visited the headquarters of the eastern-based Libyan Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, based on the instructions of Awad Al-Badri, eastern-based Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energies.
The foreign delegation met the General Manager of the Libyan Electricity Holding Company and the General Manager of the National Programme for the Localisation of Renewable Energies.
Benghazi Chamber said these meetings come within in its efforts to build bridges of cooperation between international companies specialised in the field of electricity and renewable energies and the relevant authorities in the Libyan state.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive statement to Libya Herald, Saleh Al-Obeidi, Chairman of the Benghazi Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, emphasized the coordination of a number of visits by businessmen and counterpart economic institutions from several countries, including Tunisia, Spain and Senegal.
Other delegations expected
He revealed that there will also be other visits by businessmen from Algeria, Morocco and Egypt in order to create economic communication between these countries and to benefit from them in the areas of industrial technology transfer and to increase the volume of trade.
Opening door for transit trade with Europe and Spain to Africa
In addition, he hoped these meetings will help in opening the door for the transit of their products towards Africa, especially from European countries, the most important of which is Spain, which has good commercial dealings in the field of clothing, leather, foodstuffs, agricultural and medicines with Libyan companies.
Tunisia has strategic importance
As for Tunisia, Al-Obaidi said that Tunisia is considered a strategic dimension for the Libyan economy, as it is a neighbouring country just like Egypt. It is linked to Libya with a large volume of trade exchange that exceeds US$ 3 billion annually, in addition to the fact that Tunisia is the first destination for medical treatment of many Libyans.
Therefore, coordination is underway with the Tunisian side to set controls for cooperation in all economic and health fields to preserve the rights of the two parties.
Africa Transit trade with Tunisia will benefit Libya, Algeria and Egypt
This, while increasing the volume of trade and coordinating efforts to support transit trade towards Africa, from which several countries such as Egypt, Algeria and Libya seek to benefit. They will have a prominent role in this trade, which is a renewable source of income, but Libya lacks the approval of a budget to establish the necessary infrastructure for it.
Senegal: Location, stability, and resources
As for Senegal, Al-Obeidi considered it a good location for trade and marketing of various goods and services due to its good political stability and the presence of huge economic resources in which the Libyan and Senegalese parties can invest in cooperation with other countries that have sufficient experience in all economic fields.
It will be recalled that these separate eastern institutions, such as the Ministry of Electricity, are parallel institutions to those in western Libya and are aligned to the Fathi Bashagha government based in eastern Libya and recognized by the House of Representatives (HoR). The HoR, Libya’s parliament, withdrew confidence from the Tripoli-based Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba government.
