During an honoring ceremony for retired personnel, which was held last Thursday evening at Coral Beach Hotel, the Regie’s President and General Director Mr. Nassif Seklaoui announced that the Regie continued to “support the National Reserve” during 2018, pointing that “the sector’s [last year] revenues reached LBP 628 billion”.
During the ceremony, the staff of the General Management Department was honored for their achievements, along with 27 distinguished employees from different departments and the employee of the year, of whom a special video was projected.
Besides Seklaoui, the ceremony was attended by the members of the Boards of Directors: Georges Hobeika, Dr. Issam Salman, and Mazen Abboud; the Government Commissioner Mrs. Mirna Baz; and Comptroller Mrs. Carol Youssef Aoun. Seklaoui, together with the Head of the Syndicate of Laborers and Staff of the Regie Mr. Kamal Yateem, the Head of the Collaboration Fund Mr. Wael Dergham, and the Head of Ex-Laborers League Mr. Jean Chemali, awarded medals to retired personnel.
In his speech, Seklaoui considered that the position that the Regie has reached is due to the efforts of its employees, "their determination to succeed", and "the support and confidence of the guardianship authority, represented by the Minister of Finance Mr. Ali Hassan Khalil". "What we have achieved is the result of the determination of making the Regie a model management; the commitment to sustain this success; and the integrated, homogeneous, and effective team that has been able to transform visions, plans, and projects into projects and accomplishments."
He stressed that the "Regie owes each person that had hardly worked and contributed to this success" and considers its employees "the reason of its pride and strength". He pointed out that the Regie aims to "create the best conditions" for its employees through "training policies, motivation, bonuses, scholarships, social and health contributions, human rights policy, exceptional grades", and recent promotions.
He stressed that the Regie achieved during the year 2018 "industrial, economic, developmental, humanitarian, sports, and cultural successes". "It was able to continue to support the national treasury, with the sector yielding LBP 628 billion" and "to organize the first national conference to combat illegal trade in order to raise awareness about the dangers of smuggling and the ways of protecting against it; resulting in a brilliant and distinctive event". Seklaoui said that the Regie "provided support to villages involved in tobacco farming in the South, North, and Bekaa, with a total of 178 contributions in 2018, along with awareness campaigns about child labor, women's empowerment sessions, and 110 additional scholarships".
He indicated that the Regie "has managed to maintain its quality certificate and to expand the scope of application, which raised confidence among its partners."Today, we have 12 production lines in our factories, instead of five, which manufacture major brands of international tobacco companies".
"Far from overbidding, to speculators who find these achievements ample for a public facility, we say that the Regie is not a public facility. If others, according to the principle of grasp all, lose all, are content with little, this country does not need modest ambitions and the traditional role of public facility does not suffice it. It needs a visionary, responsible, and capable team.
Yateem
The Head of the Syndicate of Laborers and Staff of the Regie Mr. Kamal Yateem spoke underlining "the understanding prevailing between the Administration, the Syndicate, and the employees since the recent revival of the Regie". He praised the management of the Regie that meets the needs of its employees when it comes to health care, education, guidance, and its respect of the freedom of speech.
Slim
The Head of PR Department, Nahla Salim, said in her welcome speech that the Regie is always keen to honor the employees who "had dedicated their efforts". "Today they end their service, but our love to them continues. Today they retire from office, but they will stay in our hearts", she said.