Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, expressed on Monday his support for the efforts exerted locally and globally to achieve the Sustainable development goals.

Hariri's remarks came during his patronage this morning at the Grand Serail of the "Making global goals local business-Middle East" Forum.

He said: "First, I would like to welcome Ms. Lise Kingo, the CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, an impressive woman with an impressive career that is fully dedicated to social responsibility and sustainability.

We are very happy to welcome you in Lebanon and to have you here with us today.

Ladies and gentleman,

I am pleased to join you today. This is an opportunity to make Lebanon rise up to its potential and advance the sustainable development goals.

Thanks to the SDGs and the Paris climate agreement, the world has a powerful common agenda where everyone is involved, from leaders to citizens. and where businesses play a crucial role.

When I look at the SDGs, I look at them like a small family and what they want to achieve. They do not want to be poor, they want to have clean water, a good climate, work in a city that is healthy, they want to have gender equality among their children.

What the UN embarked on is actually making this small family, of 3, 4 or 5, a global project. If you look at each one of those SDGs you will find how important this is for a family and this is what has been lacking with the globalization that we have been seeing in the past 20-30 years. When I first read about the SDGs, I got inspired, because all I thought of was a family and how you can make sure that this small family can grow up with the global family and this is how you become a global family. That's what Ban Ki Moon wanted, this is what all the secretaries of the United Nations want. I think that this is what each one of us wants for our family, for our community, for our country, for our region and I think that tackling this matter with every sector in the government or in the business community or in the NGOs, this is what makes it a global impact issue.

I think today, with what MP Dima Jamali is working on, what the government of Lebanon is doing, we have embarked on this very seriously. I know us Lebanese, how we get excited about something and then after a few years, months, or days we get bored. But this time, we have women working on it, whether Dima or my aunt Bahia, our ministers, everyone is working on this matter. I am sure because it is in the hands of women, this is going to be achieved in Lebanon.

I believe in equality between men and women and I truly believe that businesses are one of the challenges. I truly believe that if we encourage women to participate in all sectors, we will have a better standard in our country.

I salute you for coming here and for doing what you are doing for Lebanon and the world. Thank you all, there are many people here today. This is a very good sign that people are excited and want the SDGs to be executed."

Hariri earlier received Kingo and discussed with her the situation in Lebanon and the cooperation with UN agencies.