‘Saudi Arabia, UAE look to invest in Lebanon’

beirut — Saudi Arabia and the UAE are looking to invest in infrastructure projects in Lebanon after ties have recovered, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri said in comments from his office on Friday.

Hariri, on a visit to Washington, also said there were negotiations “over financial and economic aid” with the United States, the Lebanese military’s biggest foreign backer. He did not elaborate.

After years of backsliding, heavily indebted Lebanon faces financial crisis without reforms to put public spending on a sustainable footing. Launching longstalled reforms would help Lebanon unlock more than $11 billion

We will present to [Saudi Arabia and the UAE] the projects we have in Cedre because they want to invest Saad Al Hariri, Prime Minister of Lebanon

pledged at the “Cedre” donor conference in Paris last year — the centrepiece of the Hariri government’s plans to revive the sluggish economy.

“We will present to [Saudi Arabia and the UAE] the projects we have in Cedre because they want to contribute and invest. The relationship between us has returned to what it was before and may be better,” Hariri told reporters during a visit in Washington, his office said in a statement.

He added that talks were under way with Riyadh on some 23 economic deals, it said.

Hariri’s government, which has one of the world’s highest levels of public debt worth around 150 per cent of GDP, is seeking to bring down its fiscal deficit. After years of low economic growth, Lebanon wants the funds promised by foreign donors in Paris for a capital investment programme to overhaul its infrastructure, with projects tackling transport, water and power sectors. —