- Title: Lebanese PM seeks $10bln foreign investment amid refugee crisis
- Date: 19th January 2017
- Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (JANUARY 19, 2017) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PEOPLE GATHERING IN GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS FOR LAUNCH OF LEBANESE CRISIS RESPONSE PLAN VARIOUS OF POSTER READING (English): "LEBANON CRISIS RESPONSE PLAN - AT A GLANCE" VARIOUS OF LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER SAAD AL-HARIRI ARRIVING AND GREETING U.N. SPECIAL COORDINATOR SIGRID KAAG AND U.N. RESIDENT AND HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR PHILIPPE LAZZARINI HARIRI SEATED WITH U.N. OFFICIALS HARIRI WALKING TO PODIUM/ AUDIENCE WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER, SAAD AL-HARIRI, SAYING: "In the coming three years, Lebanon needs no less - and I mean no less - than eight to ten billion dollars’ worth of new investments in infrastructure to upgrade already existing infrastructure, invest in new projects and compensate for the deterioration that took place due to the presence of the 1.5 million Syrians displaced on our territories." HARIRI SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER, SAAD AL-HARIRI, SAYING: "The support, contribution and concerted effort of the international community while appreciated and welcome were until today, like you said, mainly humanitarian in nature, and were not proportional to the large needs of the affected populations, both displaced Syrians and host communities." VARIOUS OF BANNER READING (Arabic): "LEBANON CRISIS RESPONSE PLAN 2017-2020" EXTERIOR OF THE GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS, GRAND SERAIL BUILDING IN CENTRAL BEIRUT
- Embargoed: 2nd February 2017 18:51
- Keywords: Lebanon Syria Saad al-Hariri Mideast crisis refugee crisis economy infrastructure refugee crisis
- Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZR0VUV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Lebanon's prime minister called on Thursday (January 19) for "adequate and substantial" foreign investments worth nearly $10 billion to address the Syrian refugee crisis and upgrade the country's crumbling infrastructure.
At least 1 million people fleeing neighbouring Syria's war have poured into Lebanon since the conflict began in 2011, making up a quarter of the small country's population and seriously straining its public services.
"In the coming three years, Lebanon needs no less than eight to ten billion dollars worth of new investments," Saad al-Hariri told a news conference in Beirut.
Hariri said that international contributions, "while appreciated ... are not proportional to the large needs of displaced Syrians and host communities".
Hariri appealed for funding for a three-year plan aimed at equipping Lebanon to better withstand the refugee influx and shore up its economy.
The pillars of the economy - remittances from overseas workers, tourism and real estate - have been damaged by the war in Syria, neglected by wrangling Lebanese politicians and caught in regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Most of Lebanon's infrastructure has been awaiting repair since its 15-year civil war ended in 1990, and its debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast by the World Bank at 155 percent this year, the third highest in the world.
At the top of Hariri's priority list is a budget, which the country has not had since 2005, and a better environment for business, his economic adviser, Mazen Hanna, told Reuters recently. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None