Lebanon 鈥榙oesn鈥檛 need to be economic basket case,鈥� says US energy security tsar

Retired servicemen try to remove the barbed wire barricade outside Lebanon's central bank during a demonstration demanding inflation-adjustments to their pensions in Beirut on March 30, 2023. (AFP/File photo)
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  • Amos Hochstein: 鈥業f the reform agenda is addressed, then I think for Lebanon the sky is the limit鈥�
  • He visited the country in August to understand the potential for further negotiations with Israel

NEW YORK: Lebanon 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 need to be the economic basket case that it is,鈥� with the crisis-hit country鈥檚 business culture offering a path forward, the US president鈥檚 energy security tsar said on Wednesday.

鈥淟ebanese run businesses in every country on the planet,鈥� said Amos Hochstein. 鈥淲herever you go there are Lebanese entrepreneurs, doctors, CEOs and financiers. But they have to leave Lebanon to do it.鈥�

Hochstein, deputy assistant and senior adviser to the president for energy and investment, was addressing the inaugural Middle East Global Summit in New York, attended by Arab News.

Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, former US permanent representative to NATO, served as moderator for the fireside-style discussion with Hochstein.

The energy security tsar served as lead negotiator of a maritime deal between Lebanon and Israel in late 2022, which saw a resolution that divided the disputed Qana and Karish gas fields between the two countries.

Lute asked Hochstein if that deal could serve as a catalyst for further negotiations and closer ties.

鈥淓verybody told me that it wasn鈥檛 possible. I really credit both countries with walking away from the naysayers to do it,鈥� Hochstein said.

鈥淲e should always be creating precedents. It (the deal) should be a precedent for other things that we can do.鈥�

Hochstein visited Lebanon in late August to 鈥渢ake the temperature鈥� and understand the potential for further negotiations with Israel, which the US has encouraged across the region.

He also visited 萝莉视频 in June as part of a US bid to encourage normalization with Israel.

He said it is 鈥渋mperative鈥� for Lebanon to 鈥渉ave civility鈥� so that international businesses can operate securely in the country.

鈥淎fter 10 years of talking about why Lebanon is the only Mediterranean country without (gas) exploration 鈥� and everybody sounds like a broken record: 鈥業t鈥檚 because multibillion-dollar companies don鈥檛 invest in areas that could go to war鈥�.鈥�

But Hochstein said: 鈥淲e can settle the conflict. Now it鈥檚 secure. There are already other interests, there鈥檚 already job creation, and there are already investments in Lebanon.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the message. Lebanon doesn鈥檛 need to be the economic basket case that it is. And I鈥檓 using harsh words but somebody鈥檚 got to wake up, and a lot of people in Lebanon need to wake up and say, 鈥楾his is a disaster.鈥� If the reform agenda is addressed, then I think for Lebanon the sky is the limit.鈥�

Hochstein was asked about the recent signing of a deal between the US, the EU and other countries, including 萝莉视频, to commit to the creation of an economic and digital corridor from the Indo-Pacific region to Europe.

He said: 鈥淧orts from India 鈥� will connect to the UAE, and connect north via Saudi, and then via rail to Greece.鈥�

Hochstein praised the proposal as highly efficient and as making it possible to 鈥渕ove goods in a much faster way鈥� around the world.