Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - A Jordanian delegation is taking part in the Annual Arab Banking conference that kicked off Thursday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

The delegation is head by Minister of Finance Umayya Toukan and includes Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan Ziad Fariz, chairman of Capital Bank Basem Salem, National Bank General Manager Marwan Awad, Director General of Jordan Islamic Bank Moussa Shehadeh and the Commercial Bank General Manager Mehdi Adywee.

The two-day conference, which is organized by the Union of Arab Banks (UAB) in cooperation with the Lebanese Central Bank and Lebanese Banks Association, is held under the auspices of Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

In his opening speech, Salam appealed to Arab banks to help Lebanon cope with the burden of hosting more than one million Syrian refugees living in informal camps across the country.

"Since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict, an additional burden represented by the waves of displaced Syrians pouring into Lebanese territory has added to the many concerns of the Lebanese people," he said.

"I call on UAB and the Association of Banks in Lebanon to launch a serious initiative to stand by the Lebanese state, and to assist it in coping with this burden," Salam said.

The UAB annual conference is being held this year under the theme 'What Arab economy lies ahead".

The two-day conference attracts economic and banking experts from the Arab and International institutions and private sector leaders.

The conference panels will focus on a wide range of key economic issues, explore solutions and highlight their impact on the economies of our Arab countries.

The meeting aims to a unified strategy to face economic challenges in the light of unseen stability, to shed light on the economic reforms required for the coming phase.

Topics to be discussed in the meeting include Arab economy, a phase to take crucial decisions, Arab Banking Sector between international pressures and future economic role apart from changing needs in the Arab Economy, prospects of economic cooperation between the Arab countries, mechanisms to support the development efforts of the Arab countries as well as the future of Arab youth in the face of future challenges.

*Petra