Loading ...How a Lebanese businessman revived the ancient Silk Road
In ancient times, the Phoenicians, ancestors of the modern-day inhabitants of Lebanon, had already traveled to China and brought commodities back to Beirut, including silk, which they also introduced to Europe.
China and Lebanon established trade connections that have continued to this day because of dedicated people in both countries, like Adnan Kassar.
Kassar is the honorary chair of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce Industry and Agriculture in Arab countries. He has spent much of his life promoting bilateral commerce between China and Lebanon.
In 1955, the government of the People’s Republic of China had yet to form diplomatic ties with Lebanon, yet that did not prevent Kassar from helping a Chinese business delegation visit the Mediterranean country.
The ice-breaking trip not only saw the signing of the first trade agreement between the two sides but also boosted the development of China’s relationship with the wider Arab world. In that same year, China also set up a trade representative office in the country with the assistance of Mr Kassar.
Noting that this year marks the 60th anniversary of that first trade agreement, Kassar said he felt very excited. The deal not only brought Chinese goods to Lebanon but to the whole Arab world. China became the Arab world’s second-largest trading partner last year, he said.
According to official data, two-way trade between China and Lebanon reached US$2 billion in 2014, making Beijing Beirut’s top trading partner.
However, the maiden trade accord was not the end of Kassar’s work. It simply inspired him to do more to promote Chinese goods across the Arab world.
Kassar has also done much to boost trade relations between the two countries. In 1972, when he was elected president of the Lebanese Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Kassar picked China for his first official foreign visit.
He also proposed to form the Chinese-Arab chamber of commerce at the Damascus meeting of the General Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in 1988.
In his years serving at Fransabank, Kassar also worked to boost the bank’s relations with his Chinese counterparts. In February last year, Fransabank issued its first Union Pay credit card, and has been well received by Lebanese business community.
Now at the age of 85, Kassar has visited China more than 50 times since the 1950s, and considers himself a living eyewitness of China’s ever deepening relations with both his country and region as well.
The bonds between China and Lebanon are now facing a new and unprecedented opportunity as Beijing has proposed the “Belt and Road” initiative in a bid to revive the glory of the ancient Silk Road.
“China has become a part of my life. I will continue to promote and contribute to the Belt and Road initiative for as long as I live,” he said.
“My business career is closely linked with the Chinese… I learned a lot from China… I am already 85 years old, and as long as I live, I will continue to promote bilateral relations.”
Source: www.wantchinatimes.com