Beirut - Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora stressed at a conference in Beirut Thursday that security and stability are the key to healthy financial growth in the country.

The Friends of Lebanon for Investment and Finance conference, which was attended by 500 participants from 15 Arab and international institutions, was set to address the global financial crisis and its local repercussions and to explore investment opportunities in Lebanon.

Representatives of 36 countries and 14 international institutions pledged 7.6 billion dollars in assistance for Lebanon at a conference in Paris last year after the 33-day war with Israel in July 2006.

The main goal of the Paris conference was to reschedule the country's burgeoning debts, now estimated at 44 billion dollars, and to reduce them.

Seniora said Thursday that Lebanon was able to distance itself and its banking and financial sectors from the global financial crisis through "strict adherence to standards in financial and banking practices, and through the effective control of banks, as well as through joint action between the government and Central Bank and the financial officials and banks."

Seniora said he expected Lebanon to benefit from lower oil prices and a low rate of inflation in the next few months.

The prime minister called on the Arab world to learn from the global financial crisis. He called for joint Arab economic action and common economic policies.

Lebanese Finance Minister Mohammad Chatah emphasized that reform was a priority in Lebanon and that financial stability was inextricable from national security.

"Without security in Lebanon, the economy cannot take off," Chatah said. "We must work together to provide maximum employment opportunities in Lebanon."

Ruling majority leader Saad Hariri stressed that the private sector was "the backbone of Lebanon's economy."

"We will work to make Lebanon a leader economically as well as politically," Hariri said, echoing the view that stability was the key to healthy financial growth in Lebanon. (dpa)