Qatar will help revive Lebanon's ailing energy sector and solve its chronic problems in providing reliable electricity, the Lebanese and Qatari prime ministers said Friday.
"We have agreed to establish a comprehensive framework for cooperation in the energy sector and to present viable solutions," gas-rich Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said during a visit to Lebanon.
This is an "old project that Qatar had discussed with Lebanon... for years," he added, saying it was now "about to see the light of day."
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the project would be carried out and financed by Qatar.
"We are close to reaching a project... aimed at rehabilitating, developing, and modernizing the electricity production infrastructure... at a lower cost," Salam said.
Lebanon's electricity sector has cost Lebanon more than $40 billion since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war, and successive governments have failed to reduce losses or repair crumbling infrastructure.