The Head of the Government of National Unity(GNU), Abdel Hamid Dbaiba, signed on Monday an agreement for upgrading national telecommunication network by the Libya Telephone Co. and the US Infinera as a milestone in pushing economic exchange between the two countries.
During the signing ceremony that was held in Tripoli, Dbaiba said that the move will boost confidence that Libya is moving forward on the right direction towards building integrated state institutions, to allow digital services for all the citizens with equal opportunities.
The Libyan Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid Dbaiba, visited Misrata city on Friday to looked at projects in need of maintenance work and others that have been stalled for years.
“In the January-June period, exports from Turkey to Libya reached almost $1.2 billion with an increase of 72.3% compared to the same period last year,” Murtaza Karanfil, the head of Turkey-Libya Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), told Anadolu Agency in an interview.
The figures were $1.7 billion and $2.1 billion in 2019 and 2018, respectively.
On the other hand, exports of building materials to Libya have come to a standstill due to the Tobruk-based House of Representatives not approving the budget, he said.
Approval of the budget means the export of building materials needed by both the public and private sector and the resumption of contracting work mainly provided by Turkey, according to Karanfil.
If the budget is approved, Turkey’s exports to Libya will exceed $3 billion in 2021, he added.
Karanfil, who is also the chairman of the Karanfil Group, said they are continuing initiatives to set up an international logistics base in Libya.
He said Libya with its 1,770 kilometers (1,100 miles) coastline on the Mediterranean Sea is a hub just across Europe, adding: “It is also a gateway to Africa through which Turkish businesspeople can raise their exports to the continent easily.”
The Washington Post said that Libya’s coast guard intercepted Wednesday four boats in the Mediterranean Sea carrying migrants trying to reach Europe, a U.N. official said. According to the migrants, 20 people from one of the vessels had gone overboard earlier in the day and were presumed to have drowned.
Since Tuesday, a total of seven vessels smuggling hundreds of migrants were intercepted off Libya’s coast, Msehli also said. Around 500 migrants, including nine children and 43 women, were returned to shore and taken to the Mabani detention center in Tripoli, she said.
There has been a spike in crossings and attempted crossings from Libya in recent months. Amnesty International has said that in the first six months of this year, more than 7,000 people intercepted at sea were forcibly returned to detention camps in Libya.
Earlier in July, Libyan maritime authorities acknowledged that one of their coast guard vessel had fired warning shots at a migrant boat it was chasing in the Mediterranean, in an apparent effort to stop it from crossing to Europe and endangering the lives of the migrants onboard.
The National Oil Corporation (NOC) dismissed on Friday that it has any connections with the UAE national Hind Al Gassemi, who took part in the Monaco CC Forum in the name of the NOC, denying that the afore-said had anything to do the corporation.
Pages circulated news of participation by Sheikh Hind Al Gassemi in the Monaco CC Forum on ‘Global Investment in Sustainable Development’, as a member of the National Oil Corporation.
The NOC clarified that the afore-mentioned has no title or any connection whatsoever linking her with the National Oil Corporation in Libya.
The German company Siemens and the Turkish energy company Anka have commenced work on the Misrata gas power plant with a total capacity of 650 megawatts.
The two firms have already started work on west Tripoli power plant as part of the Government of National Unity effort resolve the electricity problem.
The Libyan Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Adel Juma, said on Wednesday that the Government of National Unity’s Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbaiba will hold its fifth ordinary meeting in Sebha on Sunday August 1st.
Juma said that the meeting aims to identify the difficulties, challenges and bottlenecks witnessed by the city, adding that the government is facing great difficulties and greater challenges but has the intention and determination to solve them and create the appropriate environment and administrative establishment for any upcoming phase.
The Head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel Hamid Dbaiba, held a meeting on Monday with the Head of the Audit Bureau, Khaled Shakshak.
Shakshak and Dbaiba agreed to put in place mechanisms in order to follow up contractual measures referred to the Audit Bureau.
The meeting was attended by heads of executive bodies affiliated with the Head of the Government and experts, and some Cabinet Ministers and Undersecretary Alaa Al-Msellati.
The meeting discussed the obstacles facing Government’s development plan for 202, and focused on difficulties facing several government projects in areas of electricity and transport.
The meeting was also attended by the Libyan Minister of Transport, Adel Al Shehoubi, and the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Adel Jumoa.
The HoR Official Spokesperson Abdullah Belheeg said in a press statement that the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) held a session on µMonday to discuss the draft law on the State’s general budget for 2021.
Bleheeg said the HoR suspended the session without approving the budget proposed by the Government of National Unity (GNU), which was estimated at 93 billion Libyan dinars, adding that the session would be resumed on Tuesday.
The Libyan Minister of Health, Ali Al-Zanati, held a meeting on Monday with the Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed Tharwat Salim.
During the meeting, Al-Zanati and Salim discussed aspects of cooperation between Egypt and Libya in health sector, including handing over the management of several hospitals to specialized Egyptian companies.
The Libyan Ministry of Health said the meeting discussed the activation of MoUs and agreements between the two countries, the recruitment of medical and auxiliary elements, cooperation in the field of primary health care, and training.
They also discussed the necessary mechanisms to facilitate visa’s for Libyan patients to seek treatment in Egypt.