After years of curbs, Saudi Arabia's authorities have reopened the kingdom's market to imports from Lebanon, lifting a five-year ban, a statement by the official press agency indicated.
According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Wednesday evening, Riyadh justified the move by citing the encouraging measures taken by the Lebanese government to strengthen state institutions.
The import ban severed access to one of Lebanon's most important export markets and put particular pressure on the Lebanese agricultural sector.
"This is a real turning point," Ibrahim Tarshishi, chairperson of the farmers' association in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).
He said the focus would now be on creating the practical conditions for resuming exports and resolving outstanding issues such as transit visas for truck drivers. "We have waited five years for such a decision," he added.
