LEBANON - The United Arab Emirates and Lebanon launched an initiative to train one million Lebanese in artificial intelligence on September 25, as the two countries moved to expand co-operation in technology and digital skills.
The One Million Lebanese AI Experts initiative was announced during a meeting between Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The programme was launched under the UAE’s government experience exchange programme, in co-operation with the Lebanese government.
It will provide training in generative artificial intelligence and prompt engineering, with the aim of helping participants develop practical skills for using AI tools in professional and everyday settings.
Focus on Practical AI Skills
The initiative is designed to equip one million people in Lebanon with skills to use AI applications more effectively, including how to formulate instructions and prompts that guide AI systems to generate more accurate and useful results.
The programme forms part of broader efforts to strengthen digital capabilities and knowledge exchange between the UAE and Lebanon.
Prompt engineering involves developing and refining instructions given to AI systems to help produce specific outputs. Generative AI tools can be used to create and process text, images, code and other forms of digital content.
The initiative comes as governments and institutions across the region increase their focus on AI skills, workforce development and the integration of emerging technologies into different sectors.
PM Salam Highlights Opportunities and Challenges of AI
The announcement came on the same day that PM Salam addressed the UN General Assembly, where he discussed the opportunities and challenges associated with technological change.
PM Salam said the AI revolution was opening “unprecedented horizons” for progress across different areas of life, while also raising questions about the future of work and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
He called for international governance frameworks that place people, their freedom and privacy at the centre of the transformation brought by AI.
The Lebanese government has increasingly highlighted technology and digital development as part of its wider reform agenda, including efforts to strengthen state institutions and improve public services.
Lebanon’s Reform and State-Building Agenda
During his UN address, Salam also outlined his government’s position on Lebanon’s sovereignty, institutional reform and economic recovery.
He said Lebanon would not become an “arena for the conflicts of others” or a bargaining chip in wider regional disputes, stressing that decisions concerning the country should be made by the Lebanese state through its constitutional institutions.
PM Salam said his government was committed to extending state authority across Lebanese territory and implementing reforms, while calling on the international community to support Lebanon’s sovereignty and the implementation of international resolutions.
He acknowledged that the government had not yet fulfilled all of its commitments, citing weakened institutions, an ineffective public administration and an economy affected by years of crises.
“We do not claim that the task is complete,” PM Salam said, while emphasizing that the difficulties facing the country would not be used as a reason to abandon the government’s commitments.
The UAE-Lebanon AI initiative adds a workforce and digital-skills component to the two countries’ broader co-operation, with the programme targeting large-scale access to training in emerging technologies.
