G-8 nations, banks pledge $165 million for fund to back Arab Spring democracies

TOKYO – Rich countries and international lenders on Friday promised $165 million to a fund to provide financing for stronger public institutions in Arab nations seeking to establish democracies.

The fund aims to help build economic institutions and promote reforms in countries where huge public uprisings ousted autocratic regimes. It is part of the Deauville Partnership that works to underpin democracy and economic reform in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia.

Major western economies and wealthy oil states are the founding donors of the fund announced in Tokyo alongside annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

The U.S. has pledged $50 million, Britain $25 million, Saudi Arabia $25 million and Japan and France $12 million each. Altogether commitments total $165 million out of a target of $250 million.

The group also announced that Yemen was joining the Arab Spring countries participating in the Deauville Partnership, which also include Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco and Libya.

Numerous international lenders including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, OPEC Fund For International Development and the Islamic Development Bank are supporting the partnership, which was set up in 2011 in Deauville, France, at a summit of the Group of Eight industrial nations.