BEIRUT, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese industrialists announced on Wednesday a state of industrial emergency in Lebanon, calling upon officials to take quick measures to save the sector from further deterioration, local media reported.
"Our factories are in dire circumstances and we are about to shut down our businesses. We refuse to be continuously ignored by the Lebanese officials," Head of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists Fadi Gemayel was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper.
His remarks came during an event held in Hamra organized by the association to gather industrialists to find ways to solve their issues before the further exacerbation of their crises.
Gemayel called upon Lebanese officials to shut down illegal factories and institutions which tend to compete with legal businesses because they operate at lower cost.
"We also ask the government to help industrialists reduce the cost of energy while giving them more banking facilities and reduce taxes to prevent further economic deterioration," he said.
Gemayel added that the sector provides 140,000 job opportunities for the Lebanese.
Based on statistics by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the contribution of the industrial sector to the country's GDP now stands at 8.3 percent.
