The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received today at the Grand Serail the Italian Ambassador to Lebanon Massimo Marotti, the President of the International Union of Powerboating Raffaele Chiulli and the President of the Lebanese Union of Powerboating Edmond Chagoury.

At the end of the meeting, Chiulli said: "This is my first trip to Lebanon and I am very proud to be in this lovely country with friendly people and warm hospitality. I had a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Hariri and we are fully synchronized on the fact that sport is a fantastic vehicle to break any kind of barrier and to promote best practices in society and of course in the world of sport. In this respect, we are going to host in Beirut the 2018 general assembly with many nations from all over the world coming here. We are going to setup an academy for training and coaching the new generation of sportsmen. We will start with powerboating, but certainly will broaden to other water sports. We will also organize top events like Formula 2. Again this is in line with the principle that sport will be the best ambassador of this beautiful country worldwide."

For his part Chagoury said that they discussed three important issues with Premier Hariri. The first is holding the 2018 union's general assembly in Beirut between October 12 and 14, the second is holding a Formula 2 world championship in Lebanon and the third is establishing an international academy in Lebanon. He added that they invited Prime Minister Hariri to the dinner gala to be held next March in Monaco in the presence of Prince Albert

Source: NNA