Beirut: House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Wednesday welcomed Director-General and Chairman of the Board of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Dr. Bader Mohammed Al-Saad, along with his accompanying delegation, at the Second Presidency headquarters in Ain al-Tineh. The meeting was attended by President of the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), Engineer Nabil El-Jisr, and Dr. Ibrahim Chahrour.

According to National News Agency – Lebanon, Dr. Al-Saad informed Speaker Berri of the Arab Fund’s readiness to reactivate its development programs and initiatives in Lebanon, both ongoing and future.

Following the meeting, Dr. Al-Saad said: ‘My delegation and I met with Speaker Nabih Berri, and we listened to his wisdom regarding all matters related to development projects in Lebanon.’

‘We are in Lebanon to relaunch the Arab Fund’s activity. We are proud to be the first financing institution to return and express readiness to resume development efforts in Lebanon. We informed Speaker Berri that the Arab Fund has adopted a new approach: the Fund itself will now conduct feasibility studies and provide funding for development projects, with assistance from other financing institutions. This is aimed at shortening procedural timelines; Lebanon will no longer need to prepare feasibility studies; the Fund will handle that directly and move forward with financing,’ Al-Saad continued.

‘We were pleased with the meeting and exchanged many ideas and perspectives regarding ongoing and upcoming projects, God willing,’ Al-Saad concluded.

Later, Speaker Berri also met with the Director-General of General Security, Major General Hassan Choucair. Discussions focused on general developments, with particular emphasis on the security situation.