Aoun in Tripoli: Turning Lebanon's northern potential into economic opportunity

Report by Joe Farchakh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

Lebanon cannot rise through one group's efforts alone; it can move forward only when national belonging takes precedence over every other allegiance. With that message, President Joseph Aoun framed his visit to Tripoli as the first visit by a sitting Lebanese president to the city in several decades. 

Aoun made four stops during the visit, but delivered one overarching message: economic recovery requires a functioning state, while investment depends on security and stability.

The first stop was at the Tripoli Serail, where Aoun met with local officials and representatives to hear about the needs of the city and the North. He then visited the Palace of Justice, where judicial institutions and the rule of law took center stage.

Between the Serail and the Palace of Justice, security emerged as a key prerequisite for any development project.

However, the economic focus of the visit was its third stop: the Port of Tripoli. The discussions there went beyond developing the port itself and addressed Lebanon’s position on regional and international trade routes.

According to LBCI sources, Aoun stressed during the meeting the need to prepare Lebanon’s ports to integrate into the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, known as IMEC, by modernizing infrastructure, expanding capacity, strengthening governance and advancing digital transformation. The goal is ultimately to connect the ports of Tripoli and Beirut to the network of ports serving the corridor.

Nonetheless, the economic vision extends beyond docks and containers.

The Port of Tripoli, Rene Moawad Airport in Qlayaat, the Special Economic Zone and the northern oil installations are not separate projects, but components of an integrated economic and logistics system linking maritime and air transport with trade, industry and energy. Together, they could pave the way for new investment and job opportunities.

The fourth and final stop was the Rashid Karami International Fair, one of Tripoli’s most prominent economic and architectural landmarks. The site itself encapsulates the city’s paradox: significant potential awaiting real investment.

From there, Aoun again linked economic recovery to restoring the state’s authority and ensuring that weapons are held exclusively by its legitimate institutions.

Four stops in a single day carried a message that extended beyond Tripoli to all of Lebanon: development is not a privilege reserved for the capital, and the North is not an economic periphery. But the real test begins after the visit ends, when promises and projects are translated into decisions, investments, and actual work on the ground.