Prime Minister Najib Mikati will inaugurate upcoming Thursday at the Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel in Beirut, the activities of the Beirut Economic Forum 2022, which is organized by the Union of Arab Banks with the participation of 500 banking and financial figures.
The forum will be held over two consecutive days under the headline: Arab experiences in economic reform to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
President of the World Union of Arab Bankers and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Union of Arab Banks, Dr. Joseph Tarabay, described the event as “an important experience for Lebanon, the Arab countries, and the IMF,” particularly in sharing expertise and results.
He added: “The forum will constitute an occasion for reviews by official Lebanese institutions and the participating Arab countries that have previous experience with the IMF and are still cooperating with it.”
Tarabay hoped that said forum would be pave the way for re-launching various conferences and forums in Beirut.
In turn, the Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Banks, Dr. Wissam Fattouh, commended the holding of the forum in Beirut, saying: “The qualitative banking and economic turnout of the participating delegations from various Arab and foreign countries proves the great confidence that Beirut enjoys, as the capital of conferences.”
He added: “This forum comes in light of the negotiations that the Lebanese government is conducting with the International Monetary Fund, with the aim of reaching an agreement under which the Fund will grant Lebanon financial and technical support, in exchange for the Lebanese government’s commitment to a comprehensive reform program.”
He went on to indicate that an integrated paper prepared by the Union’s experts will be presented from a neutral point of view, including its proposals and vision for the economic, monetary and banking reform program, which can be adopted by the Lebanese government to overcome its crisis and which Lebanon can present to the IMF in the framework of negotiations with it.
“The Union has invited to the forum a group of Arab experts to present their countries’ experiences in negotiating with the International Monetary Fund, and how to reach agreements with it,” Fattouh maintained.
Finally, he considered that “this forum will constitute a high-level platform for presenting the experiences of these countries, identifying the difficulties and challenges that permeated them, and benefiting from their negotiating track with the International Monetary Fund,” disclosing that “the forum will also address the issue of the crisis of recovering depositors’ money in Lebanon and present the reform paper prepared by the Union of Arab Banks to advance the Lebanese economy.”
Source: National News Agency – Lebanon