On Thursday, the Libyan Minister of Economy and Trade, Mohamed Al-Hwaij called on Arab investors and businessmen to pump investments in Libya.
Addressing the Arab League’s Economic and Social Council meetings, held in Jeddah-Saudi Arabia, Al-Hwaij stressed the need to “draw up a general policy for Arab economic and social cooperation through the joint Arab action strategy.” He also highlighted the importance of establishing a Greater Arab free trade zone.
He also called for completing the preparations required for the establishment of the free trade zone, creating an Arab customs union, and activating all Arab transport agreements.
Additionally, the Council discussed economic and social topics of priority and enhance pan-Arab solidarity.
Moreover, an Arab tourism strategy and an Arab strategy for communications and information were approved during the meeting.
Last week, Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Abul-Gheit suggested that the main topic of the summit “is likely to be economic about how to aid the needy Arab regions.”
Syria regained its membership in the AL last week, nearly 12 years after it was suspended following the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.
In February, the Economy Ministry announced that Libya’s imports of food and raw materials needed to operate the food industry amounted to $4.439 billion dollars in 2022.
The ministry said in a statement that the value of food imports in 2022 increased by $700 million compared to 2021, with an increase of 15%.
Notably, the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) confirmed that Italy was the largest trading partner of Libya in the first eleven months of 2022.
ITA explained that the volume of trade between Italy and Libya amounted to €11.09 billion euros, an increase of 67.38 % compared to the same period in 2021.
It added that the Italian market share reached 23.19%, ahead of China, which recorded an increase of 9.22%, with a market share of €4.41 billion, and Greece which recorded 8.31%, with €3.97 billion.
The agency said that Italian exports to Libya recorded a 73.69 % growth, compared to the same period in 2021, reaching €1.94 billion and a market share of 13.11 %.