Washington D.C. - The Executive Committee of the Lebanese American Renaissance Partnership (LARP) announced that the LARP II conference will be held under the High Patronage of His Excellency, the President of Lebanon Michel Suleiman. The conference is set for September 12 - 13, 2008 at the Phoenicia Hotel in downtown Beirut.

Dr. Riad Salameh, Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon will be the keynote speaker at the LARP main gala dinner on Friday, September 12, 2008.

Each year, the Executive Committee of LARP chooses a corporate leader from the Lebanese Diaspora to lead the trip to Lebanon. This year, LARP chose Engineer Ghassan M. Saab, Chief Executive Officer of Sorensen Gross Construction Services, the largest full-line construction services organization in Flint, Michigan. Mr. Saab was born in Choueifat, Lebanon on November 22, 1944. He is the eldest of four children to Mahmoud and Najla Saab. In 1966, he graduated from the American University of Beirut with a degree in Civil Engineering.

Mr. Saab serves on several civic Lebanese American organizations and was recognized for his dedication and commitment to America and to his heritage. In 2002, he was the recipient of the American Druze Society’s “Man of the Year” award. In 1991, he was awarded the Americanism Medal by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

LARP is committed to supporting the civil society and civic institutions of Lebanon, to lifting up the spirit of the Lebanese people, and assisting the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other agencies of the United States in their effort to promote economic growth in Lebanon and to foster peace, stability, and democratic institutions in Lebanon in an effort to enhance the sovereignty and freedom of Lebanon.