Tourism Minister aims to protect Lebanon's image amid Expo Qatar dispute

The caretaker Tourism Minister, Walid Nassar, requested the caretaker Economy Minister, Amin Salam, to take back his "offensive and unreliable statements about any reality."
 
"As a minister in a government that convened and decided literally: 'I delegate the appointment of the required administrative body to the organizing party, in accordance with the established principles by the management of Expo Qatar 2023' (Item 4 of Cabinet Decision No. 36). In my keenness on Lebanon's interest and the interests of the Lebanese, I repeat, I issued the decision of appointing the Director-General of Agriculture and the Director-General of Economy to sign the contract with Expo Qatar. The desired result was achieved through their signing of the contract, followed by a statement expressing gratitude to them, the Cabinet, and Qatar," Nassar said during the Cabinet session.

In addition, he emphasized that after the signing was concluded and Lebanon's participation in this global agricultural event that concerns Lebanon was confirmed, he had never insisted on any appointment, but he certainly does. Nassar does not accept any personal attack, whoever it was.

However, the Tourism Minister considered it the Cabinet's duty to correct the course and respect dignity through imposing respect and emphasizing non-acceptance of any encroachment on dignity. "The dignity of the Cabinet is derived from the dignity of its members, and any acceptance by the Cabinet of encroachment on the dignity of one of its ministers is an acceptance by the Cabinet of undermining its credibility concerning everyone."

He also stated, "I request the Economy Minister to withdraw his offensive and unreliable statements about any reality. His repeated mentions through the media regarding the Expo Dubai issue, ignoring the fact that Expo Dubai, according to the signed contract back then, was between the private sector and the Lebanese state, which did not incur any expenses for Lebanon's participation. The costs of preparing and operating the Lebanese pavilion, provided by the United Arab Emirates, were borne by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in Lebanon, in a 70%-30% ratio. Moreover, it is important to note that this matter was concluded before my appointment as a minister in the government. Furthermore, the Lebanese state is represented by the Director-General of the Economy Ministry. For further transparency, an international private auditing company was appointed to audit the expenses and revenues, revealing the losses incurred by the private sector for the sake of Lebanon's participation."

"Based on the above, I request you not to accept the continuation of the current session until the matters are rectified to preserve the dignity of this Cabinet, the dignity derived from the dignity of its ministers," Nassar concluded.