Saudi Arabia plans imminently to boost commercial ties with Lebanon after Lebanese authorities demonstrated "efficacy" in curbing drug smuggling to the kingdom over the past months, a senior Saudi official said on Thursday.
"We will take imminent steps to bolster commercial relations between the two nations," said the Saudi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"The Lebanese government and security forces have demonstrated efficacy in curbing drug exports over recent months."
A delegation from the kingdom will soon visit Lebanon for discussions "to resolve the barriers hindering Lebanese exports to the Kingdom," the source said, without elaborating on specific measures that might be taken or sectors that might be affected.
"Our deepest gratitude goes to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its leadership ... for its kind initiative today in announcing its readiness to take immediate steps to strengthen trade relations between our two countries and remove obstacles to Lebanese exports," the Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said in a post on X. In 2021, Saudi Arabia banned all imports from Lebanon, citing smuggling of the methamphetamine-like drug Captagon, which was produced in Lebanon and Syria.
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