Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced on Wednesday that the government will unveil a master plan for a second airport in Lebanon within a month, vowing to open the project to foreign investors

Speaking to The National and other UAE-based media outlets, Salam said Lebanon must create an investment-friendly climate to rebuild, rather than return to a dependency on loans and foreign aid.

“We are not going back to the old days of asking for donations and loans. We need to prepare a suitable environment for investment,” Salam said. “The responsibility for reform and restoring the state’s sovereignty lies with us, first and foremost. But with Arab and international support, we’ll be better positioned to succeed.”

“There are many priorities, major challenges and numerous files, making it difficult to set fixed priorities. That’s why it’s important to work on parallel tracks,” Salam said.

He cited three major infrastructure projects now at the heart of Lebanon’s investment push: the reconstruction of Beirut’s port, the redevelopment of the northern port of Tripoli, and the establishment of a second airport.

“The master plan for the new airport, the René Mouawad Airport in Qlayaat, will be presented in the coming weeks, in less than a month,” Salam said. “We’ve started work on this quickly, and the project will be open to investment. We haven’t yet finalized the exact model, whether it will be a tender or not, but it has significant potential.”

Lebanon’s sole international gateway, Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, has long struggled to operate efficiently due to its location near volatile areas and persistent political instability.

“It could serve in cargo operations and low-cost aviation,” Salam noted.

Despite mounting financial pressure, Lebanon’s vast gold reserves, estimated at 286.8 metric tons and valued around $27 billion, will remain untouched, Salam confirmed. The reserves constitute more than 76% of the country’s GDP, the highest gold-to-GDP ratio in the world.

“Any tampering with Lebanon’s gold reserves today could have negative consequences. The risks outweigh any potential gains from investing or liquidating part of it,” he said.

As part of Lebanon’s strategy to rebuild relations with Gulf countries, Salam emphasized the government's determination to clamp down on Captagon trafficking; a key concern for Saudi Arabia and other Arab states that have previously imposed bans on Lebanese imports due to drug smuggling.

The synthetic amphetamine, widely produced in Syria during its civil war, had found its way through Lebanon to Gulf markets, creating a multi-billion-dollar shadow economy. While Syria’s Captagon industry has slowed following the collapse of the Assad regime last December, the issue remains a pressing one for Lebanon.

“These drugs were produced in Syria, passed through Lebanon, took on a Lebanese cover, and were exported from here,” Salam explained. “Today, with the tightening of our border with the Syrian regime, smuggling and drug exports are more controlled. But that doesn’t mean the problem is over.”

He revealed that a major factory near the Lebanese-Syrian border was dismantled within the last month, signaling enhanced enforcement efforts.

“We are looking to facilitate exports to Gulf countries, and we must do our part to ensure that red lines are not crossed, particularly those that have concerned Gulf states in the past,” he said.

Lebanon also faces growing international and regional pressure to curb Hezbollah’s influence and disarm all non-state groups.

On Monday, President Joseph Aoun confirmed that the disarmament of weapons in refugee camps will begin in mid-June, following consultations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

“We have reached an understanding on the issue of weapons collection. We are ready to co-operate on mechanisms to hand over weapons, even removing them from the country,” Salam said.

“The PLO is the recognized Palestinian representative by Lebanon and all Arab countries. Other groups, like Hamas or other factions, may have a different view, but we care that anyone carrying weapons falls under this agreement. We cannot negotiate with each party separately.”

He added that all known weapons caches outside refugee camps have been removed. “Those were Syrian weapons under Palestinian names,” he said.

Amid growing speculation that Lebanon could come under international pressure to normalize ties with Israel in exchange for economic and military aid, Salam dismissed the idea, reiterating Lebanon’s commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative and to a Palestinian state.

“Our goal is peace, but peace based on conditions that guarantee its sustainability, which requires a just peace,” he said. “And there is no just peace without a two-state solution—not just any state, but a state with East Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return for Palestinians guaranteed.”