[ti:Investing in the Arab Spring]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:Economics Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English
[00:02.74]Economics Report.
[00:04.98]The "Arab Spring"
[00:06.53]in the Middle East
[00:07.96]and North Africa has raised
[00:09.97]hopes and dreams.
[00:11.77]But can it raise money
[00:13.64]to invest in a better future?
[00:15.75]How to respond
[00:17.56]to the Arab uprisings
[00:19.55]was a major question
[00:21.29]for world leaders this week
[00:23.47]at the Group of Eight meeting
[00:25.83]in France.
[00:27.08]Earlier in the week,
[00:29.00]the head of the World Bank said
[00:31.37]international support
[00:33.48]can speed progress -- "but only
[00:36.47]if coupled with real reform."
[00:39.27]World Bank President Robert Zoellick
[00:43.06]offered loans to Egypt and Tunisia.
[00:45.74]Tunisians and Egyptians
[00:48.35]led democracy protests
[00:50.78]that overthrew their presidents
[00:53.02]early this year.
[00:54.76]President Obama discussed
[00:57.37]American development plans
[00:59.42]in his Middle East policy speech
[01:02.03]last week at the State Department.
[01:04.09]BARACK OBAMA: "The goal must
[01:04.90]be a model in which protectionism
[01:06.82]gives way to openness,
[01:07.88]the reins of commerce pass
[01:10.00]from the few to the many
[01:11.49]and the economy generates jobs
[01:13.79]for the young.
[01:15.22]America's support for democracy
[01:20.14]will therefore be based
[01:21.32]on ensuring financial stability,
[01:23.06]promoting reform and integrating
[01:26.23]competitive markets with each other
[01:27.97]and the global economy.
[01:28.94]And we are going to start
[01:30.12]with Tunisia and Egypt."
[01:31.12]The World Bank will offer Egypt
[01:33.79]four and a half billion dollars
[01:36.09]in loans over the next two years.
[01:38.64]The money would be part of a plan
[01:41.19]with the International Monetary Fund
[01:44.18]to help control Egypt's budget deficit.
[01:47.91]The goal is to improve the country's
[01:51.40]credit rating in order
[01:53.20]to ease the concerns of investors
[01:55.75]and reduce borrowing costs.
[01:57.80]About two billion dollars in loans
[02:01.97]would be linked to progress
[02:04.02]in government reforms.
[02:05.95]The World Bank also promised
[02:08.87]at least one billion dollars
[02:11.24]for Tunisia.
[02:12.48]Twenty years ago,
[02:14.72]the European Bank of Reconstruction
[02:17.77]and Development was created
[02:19.26]to help former communist countries
[02:22.19]after the fall of the Soviet Union.
[02:25.48]Now, that bank could invest up to
[02:28.78]three and a half billion dollars
[02:31.14]in the Middle East and North Africa.
[02:34.21]About four hundred million people
[02:38.14]live in those two areas.
[02:39.84]A majority are under the age of thirty.
[02:44.63]The anger of the many educated
[02:48.24]but unemployed young people
[02:50.60]has been a driving force
[02:52.78]in the Arab Spring movement.
[02:55.51]Oil is the main export
[02:58.19]for many of the countries.
[02:59.68]Yet a recent World Bank study
[03:02.92]showed that oil has not
[03:05.40]done much to raise wages.
[03:07.52]Income growth continues to fall
[03:11.19]behind East Asia and South America.
[03:14.98]Over the years, private investment
[03:18.47]has been limited largely
[03:20.21]to the oil industry.
[03:22.51]But there are some efforts 
[03:24.81]to change that.
[03:26.37]In March, Secretary of State
[03:29.04]Hillary Clinton promised
[03:30.60]two billion dollars through
[03:32.84]a government agency known as OPIC.
[03:36.13]OPIC is the Overseas Private
[03:39.87]Investment Corporation.
[03:41.80]It works with Americans businesses
[03:44.67]to invest in projects
[03:46.72]in developing countries.
[03:48.59]And that's the VOA Special English
[03:52.39]Economics Report,
[03:54.00]written by Mario Ritter.
[03:55.99]I'm Steve Ember.