Promoting peace in the Mideast

ENAR

Executive sat with Matahiro Yamaguchi, Japan’s ambassador to Lebanon, to discuss the country’s humanitarian aid to Lebanon, April’s CEDRE infrastructure investment conference, and prospects for peaceful resolutions to the region’s conflagrations. E   The Japanese Embassy is now funding a United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)-designed project targeting job creation, productivity gains, and market access for furniture makers in the north of Lebanon. Can you tell us the motivation behind this initiative? UNIDO made a well-designed plan, and we as [the] embassy aimed to see this project realized, because of the conditions of the host communities for refugees in Lebanon. We were attracted by a target to train host communities and include Syrian refugees. That idea was very suitable for us, [because] we not only want to help the Syrian refugees, but also [support] projects targeted at the development of host communities. E   In Lebanon, one often encounters talk