BEIRUT, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun emphasized Wednesday the importance of using technology to achieve sustainable development in Lebanon and in the Arab world.
"We cannot ignore the role of technology in the development process in our Arab region," he said at the 30th ministerial session of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) held in Beirut.
The theme of the biennial event this year is technology for sustainable development. The meeting offers opportunities to address regional challenges, such as high unemployment rates, among youth in particular, depleted natural resources and other issues that can lead to political instability and conflict.
The president also said that Lebanon is facing major challenges nowadays, the most important one pertaining to the Syrian refugees crisis.
"We are very much aware of the suffering of Syrian refugees but this is a big burden for Lebanon and we insist on finding the necessary solutions, hoping international community help refugees to return to their homeland very soon," he said.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), more than 1 million Syrian refugees are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon. The government estimated the true number of Syrians in the country to be 1.5 million.
Aoun said that the goal of the new government is to make financial reforms by collecting all legitimate revenues of the state while reducing expenditures and increase public investments and projects.
He also assured that the time for punishing corruption has come. "We will not offer any compromises to those who make illegal achievements or gains by breaking the laws."