BEIRUT: A visiting EU official said Friday that disbursing half a billion euros in funding to Lebanon was conditional on a banking sector restructure and reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
In May last year, the European Union announced one billion euros ($1 billion) in aid for Lebanon to help stem irregular migration to the bloc, with the assistance designed to strengthen basic services including education and health amid a severe economic crisis.
The EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica on Friday said that of the allocated funds, “500 million (euros) was already adopted in August last year, and another 500 million will come soon, but there are some conditions.”
“The main precondition is the restructure of the banking sector... and a good agreement with the International Monetary Fund,” she told a press conference after meeting with President Joseph Aoun.
“Once these conditions will be fulfilled we will continue of course with disbursing” the funds, she added.
The international community has long demanded Lebanon enact reforms to unlock billions of dollars to boost the economy after a financial crisis widely blamed on mismanagement and corruption took hold in 2019.
Lebanon last month elected a new president after a more than two-year vacuum. This month it formed a government, replacing the previous administration that had been operating in a caretaker capacity.
This week, the IMF said it was open to a new loan agreement with Lebanon following discussions with its recently appointed finance minister.
Suica also said she discussed with Aoun a “new pact for the Mediterranean” which means “we will start bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership agreements with countries including Lebanon,” without providing details.
She and Aoun also discussed issues including a ceasefire in the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as Lebanon’s army and the Syria crisis, she added.
Suica was scheduled to meet with other senior officials including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and parliament speaker Nabih Berri during the visit, according to an EU statement.
The EU is desperate for stability in the Middle East and the Mediterranean region as it hopes to avoid major flows of migrants to Europe.
Lebanon says it hosts some two million Syrians, the world’s highest number of refugees per capita, and has also been a launchpad for Europe-bound migrants.
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EU official says Lebanon funding outlay depends on banking restructure, IMF deal
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EU official says Lebanon funding outlay depends on banking restructure, IMF deal
- IMF said it was open to a new loan agreement with Lebanon following discussions with its recently appointed finance minister
- European Union announced one billion dollars in aid for Lebanon to help stem irregular migration to the bloc
Global AI summit in India still without final statement
NEW DELHI: A summit statement on how the world should approach the promises and pitfalls of artificial intelligence was still not published Saturday afternoon, a day after it had been expected at global talks in New Delhi.
Dozens of national delegations, including leaders from France, Brazil and other countries, had gathered in the Indian capital this week to discuss the fast-developing technology.
On Friday, India’s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said there was “huge consensus on the declaration,” the details of which he declined to provide.
He said the statement already had more than 70 signatories, but he hoped it would pass 80.
“We are just trying to maximize the number,” the minister said as the five-day AI Impact Summit drew to a close.
AFP contacted summit organizers and the IT ministry for comment on Saturday.
The summit, attended by tens of thousands of people including top tech CEOs, was the fourth annual international meeting to discuss the implications of generative AI, and the first hosted by a developing country.
Some visitors had complained of poor organization, including chaotic entry and exit points, at the vast summit and expo site.
Hot topics included the societal benefits of multilingual AI translation, the threat of job disruption and the heavy electricity consumption of data centers.
But analysts said that the summit’s broad focus, and vague promises made at its previous editions in France, South Korea and Britain, would make concrete commitments unlikely.
The United States, which did not sign last year’s AI summit statement, released its own bilateral declaration with India on Friday.
The two countries agreed to “pursue a global approach to AI that is unapologetically friendly to entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Also on Friday, White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios, head of the US delegation, warned against centralized control of generative AI.
“As the Trump Administration has now said many times: We totally reject global governance of AI,” he said.
Dozens of national delegations, including leaders from France, Brazil and other countries, had gathered in the Indian capital this week to discuss the fast-developing technology.
On Friday, India’s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said there was “huge consensus on the declaration,” the details of which he declined to provide.
He said the statement already had more than 70 signatories, but he hoped it would pass 80.
“We are just trying to maximize the number,” the minister said as the five-day AI Impact Summit drew to a close.
AFP contacted summit organizers and the IT ministry for comment on Saturday.
The summit, attended by tens of thousands of people including top tech CEOs, was the fourth annual international meeting to discuss the implications of generative AI, and the first hosted by a developing country.
Some visitors had complained of poor organization, including chaotic entry and exit points, at the vast summit and expo site.
Hot topics included the societal benefits of multilingual AI translation, the threat of job disruption and the heavy electricity consumption of data centers.
But analysts said that the summit’s broad focus, and vague promises made at its previous editions in France, South Korea and Britain, would make concrete commitments unlikely.
The United States, which did not sign last year’s AI summit statement, released its own bilateral declaration with India on Friday.
The two countries agreed to “pursue a global approach to AI that is unapologetically friendly to entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Also on Friday, White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios, head of the US delegation, warned against centralized control of generative AI.
“As the Trump Administration has now said many times: We totally reject global governance of AI,” he said.
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