Salam meets Erdogan, Iraqi PM in New York and urges diaspora to support Lebanon’s recovery
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York, in the presence of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Minister Youssef Raggi and Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.
Talks covered developments in Lebanon and the region, efforts to reduce tensions and strengthen regional stability, and follow-up on agreements reached during Salam’s July visit to Istanbul. Discussions focused on trade, investment, energy and infrastructure, including electricity and railway links connecting Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.
The two sides also reviewed the prefabricated housing file and possible Turkish support for return, recovery and reconstruction efforts in South Lebanon, including rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure.
Salam also met Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with Raggi and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein attending. Talks addressed bilateral ties, regional developments and follow-up on Salam’s July visit to Baghdad, particularly joint projects in energy, transport and regional connectivity.
The two prime ministers reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening state institutions and placing weapons exclusively under state authority.
Separately, Salam addressed members of the Lebanese diaspora at the Consulate General in New York, outlining the government’s reform agenda and calling on expatriates to become partners in Lebanon’s economic recovery.
He said the government remained committed to exclusive state authority over war and peace, Israeli withdrawal and the return and reconstruction of the South, while pressing ahead with banking reform, the financial gap law, IMF talks, electricity-sector restructuring, public administration reform and infrastructure projects.
Salam highlighted projects involving Beirut and Tripoli ports, the Tripoli Special Economic Zone, Kleyat Airport, railways, public transport, energy and the digital economy.
He said Lebanon no longer wanted to treat the diaspora merely as a source of financial support during crises, but as a partner bringing investment, expertise, networks and international standards.
We want to move together from financing resilience to investing in growth, Salam said, stressing that the state’s responsibility was to build credible institutions and a transparent environment capable of protecting investment.
