Salam Meets Lebanese Youth and Professionals in Washington
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam met Lebanese youth and professionals in Washington, including members of the Lebanese community at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, alumni of International College and the American University of Beirut, and Lebanese working across various sectors in the US capital.
Salam said he had insisted on meeting young Lebanese during his Washington visit, particularly those who had left Lebanon to study or pursue professional opportunities abroad.
He stressed that the government’s success should not be measured solely by laws or projects, but by its ability to build a country where young people can once again envision a future.
The state’s duty is not to ask you to return before it fulfills its own responsibilities, Salam said, adding that Lebanon must work to make returning a choice, not a sacrifice.
He said young Lebanese seek a state that respects its citizens, rewards competence rather than connections, provides a trusted judiciary and functioning economy, and delivers efficient public services.
Salam said the state-building project rests on two parallel tracks: genuine internal reform and full state sovereignty across Lebanese territory. There is no state with two armies, and no state with two decisions, he said, reaffirming the government’s commitment to reform and extending state authority nationwide.
Addressing Lebanese abroad, Salam urged them to remain engaged through their expertise, networks, ideas and investments, while holding the government accountable for results rather than promises.
Judge us by the work. Judge us by the results, he said.
Salam concluded that Lebanese youth abroad were not the generation Lebanon lost, but rather part of the generation that must come back and rebuild it.
