BEIRUT, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Minister of State for Foreign Trade Hassan Mourad said on Saturday that Lebanon's economy can only be improved by reaching Arab markets through Syria.

"We should cooperate and communicate with our brothers, the Syrians, to facilitate the export of Lebanese products through the Syrian borders to the rest of the Arab world," Mourad was quoted as saying by the National News Agency.

The minister's remarks came during the opening of a tourism and shopping festival in the Lebanese southern city of Tyre.

Mourad said the Lebanese will work together to restore Lebanon's role in exporting quality products to the rest of the world.

Lebanese Agriculture Minister Hassan Lakkis visited Syria earlier this month to discuss with Syrian authorities ways of facilitating exports of Lebanese products through Syrian borders by reducing fees on exported products.