Description: This is
a VOA Special English Economics Report.
See text below
Text:
The "Arab Spring" in the Middle East and North
Africa has raised hopes and dreams. But can it raise
money to invest in a better future? How to respond
to the Arab uprisings was a major question for world
leaders at the Group of 8 meeting in France in late
May. Earlier, the head of the World Bank said
international support can speed progress -- "but
only if coupled with real reform." President Obama
discussed American development plans in his Middle
East policy speech on May nineteenth. He said: "The
goal must be a model in which protectionism gives
way to openness, the reins of commerce pass from the
few to the many and the economy generates jobs for
the young. America's support for democracy will
therefore be based on ensuring financial stability,
promoting reform and integrating competitive markets
with each other and the global economy. And we are
going to start with Tunisia and Egypt." Democracy
protests in those two countries forced out their
presidents early this year. The World Bank will
offer Egypt four and a half billion dollars in loans
over the next two years. The money would be part of
a plan with the International Monetary Fund to help
control Egypt's budget deficit. The goal is to
improve the country's credit rating in order to ease
the concerns of investors and reduce borrowing
costs. About two billion dollars in loans would be
linked to progress in government reforms.The World
Bank also promised at least one billion dollars for
Tunisia. Twenty years ago, the European Bank of
Reconstruction and Development was created to help
former communist countries after the fall of the
Soviet Union. Now, that bank could invest up to
three and a half billion dollars in the Middle East
and North Africa. About four hundred million people
live in those two areas. A majority are under the
age of thirty. The anger of the many educated but
unemployed young people has been a driving force in
the Arab Spring movement. Oil is the main export for
many of the countries. Yet a recent World Bank study
showed that oil has not done much to raise wages.
Income growth continues to fall behind East Asia and
South America. Private investment has been limited
largely to the oil industry. There are some efforts
to change that. In March, Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton promised two billion dollars through a
government agency known as OPIC, the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation. For VOA Special
English, I'm Carolyn Presutti.
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personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
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