Brussels, 07/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - While on a visit to Tunisia at the start of May, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Thomas Mirow said that he expected EBRD funds to start flowing to the country in September this year.
In this first visit to the countries of the region (Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Jordan) to which the EBRD mandate has been extended to support the Arab Spring, Mirow underscored the EBRD's commitment to supporting economic development across the SEMED (southern and eastern Mediterranean) region, applying to these new countries its 20 years of experience in supporting transition in eastern and central Europe, a press release states.
According to the press release, “the Bank's operations will focus on strengthening the financial sector and developing the private sector in Tunisia and the SEMED countries. The Bank's emphasis will be to encourage the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises - fertile ground for job creation, in a region where, in particular, youth unemployment is a major problem.” It went on: “The EBRD has the capacity to invest, in the medium term, up to €2.5 billion a year across the SEMED region.” Any decision by shareholders to begin full-scale investments will take into account political and economic reforms undertaken in the relevant countries. (FB/transl.rt)