Nawaf Salam at the Conclusion of His Visit to Damascus: Significant Progress and This Is What We Agreed Upon...

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam indicated that "I was delighted, along with the accompanying government delegation, to visit dear Syria and meet with His Excellency President Ahmad al-Shara, who received us in an expanded meeting that included members of the Lebanese delegation and their Syrian counterparts, following their bilateral talks. I would like to thank His Excellency the President for the warmth of the reception and the generosity of hospitality."

Salam said, from Damascus International Airport after concluding his visit to the Syrian Arab Republic, that "we visited Damascus to continue consultation and work on strengthening Lebanese-Syrian relations on all levels, relations built on trust and mutual respect for the sovereignty of the two countries and on common interests," noting that "it is important for me to affirm that we have today made significant progress in addressing our shared issues, especially those that were pending, in a good spirit and with a commitment to cooperation without reservation or hesitation. And I am confident that its tangible results will appear soon."

He added: "Our visit today came not only to follow up on what we started over a year ago, but to launch new initiatives in joint work and to affirm, once again, the importance of the relationship between the two states in all fields and at the level of all relevant official institutions. We are fully aware that strengthening the relationship from state to state opens the door wide to interaction and partnership between the living forces in the two countries, economic, social, and cultural."

He announced that "we discussed the major challenges facing Lebanon and Syria in light of the rapid regional developments on more than one level and agreed on the importance of continuing consultation regarding them in the interest of the two countries.

We also discussed during this visit following up on the implementation of the agreement signed between the two countries regarding the transfer of convicted prisoners from Lebanese prisons to Syria, and we deliberated on continuing work to address the issue of Syrian detainees, and revealing the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared in both countries. We affirmed the necessity of tightening control over the Syrian-Lebanese borders and preventing smuggling in all its forms, as well as matters related to crossings and facilitating the movement of crossers and goods."

He continued: "We paused at the necessity of continuing dialogue and cooperation in facilitating the safe and dignified return of Syrian displaced persons to their homes and regulating Syrian labor with Lebanon. We discussed in detail issues of land transport and trucks, joint transport and taxis, railway linkage between Syria and Lebanon, and border crossings and bridges. We studied in particular the urgent needs, regarding the operation of border bridges and organizing movement on them, and ways to meet them without delay. We also continued discussing the necessary treatments for problems of inspection and examination at the borders and others caused by some measures and procedures related to restrictions on the transfer of goods between the two countries. We stressed the importance of removing obstacles to everything that harms the interests of both parties."

He explained that "the issue of fees imposed on exports and transit fees was discussed. It was agreed to enhance cooperation in the fields of specifications, technical standards, and laboratory tests, and we also agreed to develop bilateral economic and commercial relations, including preferential trade between the two countries and encouraging investments. It was decided to accelerate the launch of a joint Lebanese-Syrian business council, with a meeting to be held in Damascus in the coming weeks."

He stressed that "the Lebanese-Syrian discussions addressed activating and improving means of electrical interconnection to facilitate Lebanon's import of electricity from and through Syria, concluding a natural gas transit agreement, and striving to achieve that at the earliest possible opportunity."

He concluded: "Needless to say, we will continue consultation at the political level, and enhance cooperation between our two countries, which is not limited to the areas we mentioned but extends to many other fields. To this end, we will establish committees."