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Lebanon Calls on International Community to Launch Investments in Infrastructure | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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PM Saad Hariri at the Business and Financial Forum. NNA photo


Beirut – Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri called on the international community on Tuesday to invest in Lebanon’s infrastructure and assist the country in bearing the burdens of the Syrian refugee crisis.

“The displacement of our brothers in Lebanon, fleeing the criminality of the Syrian regime, is pressuring the ability of the state to ensure these basic services and doubles the pressure on the infrastructure which is already exhausted,” Hariri said in a speech at the opening of the “Business and Financial Forum: Regaining the Trust”, held in Beirut.

“Invest in the infrastructure and public services and everyone will benefit: the Lebanese first and then the displaced,” he stated, addressing local and foreign businessmen and officials.

On the political level, the Lebanese premier said the government should regain people’s confidence by bolstering the work of state institutions and end corruption.

“Our duty is to regain confidence after years of constitutional vacuum, deadlock in institutions, vertical political divide, tension in Arab and international relations and bleakness in economy and investments,” Hariri said, according to a statement released by his media office.

He went on to say that the election of the president and the formation of the government represented the first step towards the achievement of the country’s goals.

He noted that since its formation, “the government has taken rapid steps towards regaining confidence by adopting vital decrees and decisions, last but not least of which was the adoption of the budget after 12 years of absence, that is 12 years of absence of accountability and transparency.”