The Union of Arab Banks wrapped up its conference in Beirut on Friday 26th November 2010 after hearing from eminent speakers such as the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, and the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyib Erdogan.
The agenda included methods for Arab banking to better integrate with the international banking sector, the best utilisation of oil money, possibilities for investment in green energy and the establishment of an Arab banking consortium.
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been conducted, but 2007 estimates ranged from slightly more than 1 million to 2.2 million as part of Greater Beirut, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region and the fifteenth-largest in the Arab world.
The official language, Arabic, is the most common language spoken by the citizens of Lebanon. Its capital is Beirut.
Lebanon was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and is a member of the Arab League (1945), the Non-Aligned Movement (1961), Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (1969), and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (1973).
Istanbul, which straddles Europe and Asia, is the country’s largest city, while Ankara is the capital. The majority of the population identifies as Turkish, around 20% identify as Kurdish.
