Mikati concluded his visit with a meeting he held with the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, a day before the arrival of the negotiating delegation to Beirut, to complete the discussion with the government on the reform cooperation program with Lebanon.
Mikati also met Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of the French company Total, and discussed with him the course of the agreement to explore for oil and gas in Area No. 9 in Lebanese territorial waters, and the obstacles that delay the start of exploration. The research also touched on the issue of Lebanon’s decision to conduct a tender to solicit bids for the construction of a gas liquefaction plant in Zahrani.
Also, Mikati met with the Algerian Foreign Minister, Ramtane Lamamra, and asked him to convey his wishes to the Algerian government to exempt Lebanon from the decision to ban the export of sugar.
Mikati also held a meeting with the US special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley.
Mikati had met yesterday with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad and received a promise from him that “in the coming weeks, the foreign minister will visit Beirut to see personally the needs that Lebanon demands.”
In addition to the Qatari emir, Mikati met yesterday with: Qatari Prime Minister Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi, Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.
On the first day of his visit, Mikati met with the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, and the Qatari Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman.
