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Speech by the Ambassador at the opening of the Czech-Lebanese Conference Walmark - Generalpharm

Speech by Ambassador Michaela Froňková at the opening of the Czech-Lebanese conference Walmark - Generalpharm
Beirut, March 20, 2018
/English/

Distinguished Guests:

I am very pleased and honoured to be personally present at this conference organized by the Czech company Walmark and its Lebanese partner General Pharm. This meeting represents another step in the long journey of building strong bilateral relations between our countries, which were established as far back as 71 years ago. 

Since then we, the Czechs, have felt connected with Lebanon through friendly relations and similar multicultural and multi religious experience in our history. We have always supported and continue to support Lebanese dedication to independence, unity, religious diversity, security and stability.

And especially over the last years the Czech Republic has come to appreciate Lebanon´ contribution to finding solutions to regional security and humanitarian problems. We praise the hospitality of your country towards Syrian refugees. We are fully aware of the burden Lebanon bears. To ease this impact on your society and your own people, we continue to fund and cooperate on projects that support your humanitarian challenges and vulnerabilities.

This is why one of the cornerstones of our bilateral cooperation is the health sector. One of the projects that we have launched in Lebanon last year is the Czech medical humanitarian program MEDEVAC. This is a government run program which focuses on providing medical care to vulnerable groups. It is implemented through the deployment of medical teams, through training of medical staff and through the exchange of experience and best practice. It is also implemented through financial contributions to support health care infrastructure in your country, which has been affected for so long by the refugee crisis.

Let me give you another example of our cooperation in the sector of health: For the summer of this year, we are preparing an incoming mission of Lebanese businessmen in the health sector to Prague, to meet their Czech partners and companies in the health industry.

I am very glad that this symposium works in the same logic – that it aims to help the transfer of know-how, to share experience and skills between medical doctors and experts in medicine and pharmacy. And that it shares the same goal – to be more useful and efficient in helping our people to live their life in good health and wellness.