UN bodies to purchase local goods

Move to serve Syrian refugees

The Ministry of Industry requested that all United Nations (UN) bodies purchase locally made goods, or, if the requested goods are not manufactured locally, to accomplish purchasing deals through local traders. These goods are meant to cater to Syrian refugees.

A general meeting will be held in early February to inform the industrialists and traders about the mechanism that should be applied by the UN organizations to provide their purchases and announce their tenders.

Vrej Sabonjian, Minister of Industry, said: “As we have made sacrifices for the sake of the Syrian refugees, we have the priority to provide them with our local goods.” He said that the UN is allocating huge budgets to aid the Syrians, and providing them with local goods will activate the economy and support the industrial and commercial institutions.

According to Sabonjian, UN dedicated personnel will be assigned within two weeks, to help the local industrialists and traders in submitting their tender applications, answer all their questions and facilitate their work.

Mounir Bsat, Head of the Syndicate of Food Industries said: “Local industrialists will benefit a lot from this decision, if implemented, because huge budgets are allocated from UN to the refugees.”
“We appreciate the Minister’s initiative especially since previously, most goods were sourced from foreign companies, to cater to the refugees’ needs,” said Bsat.