LEBANON – Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met with a group of Lebanese youth and professionals in Washington, in a gathering that brought together members of the Lebanese Club at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, graduates of International College (IC) and the American University of Beirut (AUB), as well as Lebanese professionals working across various sectors and institutions in the U.S. capital.
Salam said he had made a point of meeting with Lebanese youth during his visit to Washington and listening to their views, particularly those who had left Lebanon to pursue their studies, seek employment opportunities or achieve their ambitions.
He stressed that the success of the government’s work should not be measured solely by the number of laws or projects it adopts, but by its ability to build a country where young people can once again see an opportunity for their future. He emphasized that the state’s responsibility is not limited to asking Lebanese citizens to return but begins with creating the conditions that make returning to Lebanon “a choice, not a sacrifice”.
Salam noted that Lebanese youth aspire to a state that respects its citizens and allows them to succeed based on their skills and qualifications, free from favoritism and political patronage. They also seek a trusted judiciary, an economy that creates opportunities, and a public administration that respects citizens and their time.
He stressed that the state-building project rests on two interconnected tracks: genuine domestic reform and the full exercise of state sovereignty across all Lebanese territory.
Salam called on Lebanese living abroad to remain part of Lebanon through their ideas, expertise, networks and investments. He also urged them to hold the government accountable for its work and results rather than its promises, saying: “Hold us accountable for the work; hold us accountable for the results”.
The meeting with Lebanese youth in Washington comes as part of Salam’s official visit, which focuses on strengthening cooperation with international financial institutions and supporting Lebanon’s reform process. The Lebanese delegation, headed by Salam, has begun meetings in Washington with officials from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Salam said that Lebanese youth abroad are not “the generation Lebanon has lost,” but rather “part of the generation that has to rebuild it,” stressing that the Lebanon the government seeks to build should reflect its youth: young, ambitious, open, diverse, free of barriers among its people, and looking toward the future.
