Unemployment to reach 10% in 2010 in OECD countries

PARIS, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The rate of unemployment in the industrial world could reach 10 percent in 2010, the highest level since 1970s, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned on Tuesday.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Han Seung-soo addresses the opening ceremony of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Forum 2009 in Paris, capital of France, on June 23, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
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The Paris based organization estimated that 57 million people could lose their job in its 30 member countries by the end of 2010, while it was 37.2 million jobless at the end of 2008.

"Unemployment will continue to weigh on national economies for a long time to come," OECD Secretary General Angel Guria said in a statement. "Previous downturns have taught us that the jobs recovery will lag a long way behind the pickup in the economic growth."

The OECD said it was working closely with its member countries "to adapt their policies to help the unemployed and avoid high unemployment levels becoming persistent."

The organization suggested governments to ensure financial safety nets for low income families and the unemployed. It also urged countries to make greater efforts to provide training opportunities to the unemployed.

In April, the OECD expected the rate of unemployment came to 7.8 percent.

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

G8 ministers commit to more efficient aid strategy for developing countries

by Silvia Marchetti

ROME, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The Group of Eight (G8) development ministers agreed Friday on a series of commitments to increase efficiency in financial aid allocation to developing countries, particularly Africa, in an attempt to tackle the impact of the current economic downturn.

Closing a two-day meeting, the ministers said in a final document they shared the view that "innovative financing is a critical element in contributing, along with traditional ODA (official development aid), to raising the resources needed to tackle the challenge of the economic crisis so as to mitigate its impact on development.

"In this difficult context, a change of scale and speed in the implementation of innovative financing mechanisms for development is most needed," said the statement.

However, no concrete financial commitment to developing countries was made. The ministers simply reiterated what had previously been decided at London's G20 meeting in April and at Gleneagles summit in 2005 to reverse the negative economic impact and increase sustainable development in emerging countries.

According to the final statement, the development ministers stressed the need for "a strong, coherent and coordinated response to the economic crisis."

"The global economic slowdown, adding on the negative effects of energy and food crises, has severely disrupted economic growth worldwide", especially in developing countries, said the ministers.

"We must therefore act in a coordinated manner to prevent the economic crisis from turning into a deeper social crisis with all its possible consequences in terms of political instability and conflicts," they added.

Thus, the ministers agreed to increase "social protection mechanisms and safety nets to address vulnerable population groups who are hardest hit by the crisis" through a more efficient development strategy.

Over the two-day meeting on Thursday and Friday, discussion was focused on the impact of the economic crisis on developing countries and on measures to support low income economies to meet their challenges.

As developing countries have been hard hit by the global economic crisis, industrialized nations' efforts will focus on promoting foreign investments and international loans to increase sustainable development.

Among the commitments taken at the meeting, the G8 ministers stressed the need to "optimize the allocation of resources and maximize the impact of development assistance, investment, trade, debt relief, microfinance, small and medium enterprise financing."

In addition, it is essential to free financial flows from bureaucratic nets, promote public-private partnerships, stimulate the implementation of green technologies to combat climate change and advance in reform programs able to boost market forces and increase well-being in developing countries.

The ministers decided as well on the necessity to give emerging countries better representation at institutional organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

"We have confirmed these commitments, they will be kept by the countries and the international organizations concerned," Italian Foreign Minister

Franco Frattini told reporters at the closing press conference.

"But that is not enough. We have to go beyond that and mobilize all available resources against the crisis in order to bring a response to the difficulties which developing countries are facing. A lot remains to be done, particularly for the weakest and most indebted countries," he added.

Discussion on Africa was at the center of the gathering. The ministers stressed the need to mobilize private capital to finance development of the continent's infrastructure and proposed to reduce by half the commission on remittances of immigrant workers.

Such a measure alone, proposed by current G8 presidency holder Italy, will free some 12 billion U.S. dollars to 15 billion U.S. dollars.

Frattini stressed the importance of Africa's role and the need of a "global partnership" with all developing countries.

Italy has put the issue of Africa on top of G8 agenda and Frattini promised that "Africa's voice will be heard" at L'Aquila summit in July.

The ministers also agreed that it was essential for donor countries to have greater effectiveness and more coordination.

Thus they decided to advance a cross-sector approach to sustainable development, based on the harmonization of cooperation initiatives in the various areas of development such as education, environment, health, food security and safety. The final goal is to optimize available resources and to increase potential economies' scale.

The meeting's final results will be presented to the G8 summit to be hosted by the Italian city of L'Aquila, which was partly destroyed by an earthquake on April 6.

The meeting was also attended by ministers from Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Egypt, as well as deputies from the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development.

Representatives from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program, the World Health Organization and the World Bank also took part in the meeting.

The G8 development meeting opened amid strong protests. On Thursday, the anti-poverty group One led by Irish rock star "Bono" accused Italy and France of being so far behind on their aid pledges to Africa.

G8 development ministers agree on aid for developing nations

ROME, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Development ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) agreed Friday on a series of commitments to increase efficiency in financial aid allocation to developing countries, particularly Africa, in an attempt to tackle the impact of the economic crisis.

No concrete financial commitment to developing countries was made. The ministers simply reiterated what had previously been decided at London's G20 meeting in April and at Gleneagles summit in 2005 to reverse the negative economic impact and increase sustainable development in emerging countries.

According to the final communique, the development ministers stressed the need for "a strong, coherent and coordinated response to the economic crisis. The global economic slowdown, adding on the negative effects of energy and food crises, has severely disrupted economic growth worldwide," especially in developing countries.

"We must therefore act in a coordinated manner to prevent the economic crisis from turning into a deeper social crisis with all its possible consequences in terms of political instability and conflicts," the ministers said in the final document.

At the two-day meeting, the ministers agreed to increase "social protection mechanisms and safety nets to address vulnerable population groups who are hardest hit by the crisis" through a more efficient development strategy.

The meeting was attended by ministers from Italy, the current G8 presidency holder, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and the United States, as well as ministers from developing countries, namely China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Egypt, and representatives from international organizations.

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

IMF says Africa needs $2.5 bln bailout from economic meltdown

LAGOS, June 9 (Xinhua) --The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that the next year may witness dramatic increase in credit borrowings by African countries to the tune of 2.5 billion U.S. dollars as a result of biting effects of global economic meltdown, the Lagos based This Day newspaper reported Tuesday.

The IMF Country Chief and Resident Representative to Nigeria, David Nellor, made the disclosure while on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Labor and Productivity, Adetokunbo Kayode, in Abuja on Monday.

He singled out Nigeria as one country that has so far escaped from the immediate impact of the world financial crisis due to the accrued benefits from the fiscal reforms.

Nellor particularly pointed to the oil savings from excess crude oil account as well as the banking reforms as major contributory factors in the measure of financial stability being enjoyed by Nigeria.

"The crisis is clearly a big issue globally and each country has its own challenges and for several countries in Africa, they need finance," he said.

"If they don't have that finance, it means they will grow more slowly, so we anticipate this year a lot of borrowing will take place at concessional interest rates," he added.

He said the interest rate on IMF money borrowing to some countries is half percent.

"That is a concessional rate and we anticipate an increase this year of maybe 2 billion dollars or 2.5 billion dollars of additional borrowing from Africa to help countries tied all over during this crisis period," Nellor added.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Nigerian labor minister said Nigeria' s economic problem is not caused by the global economic crisis, but is principally based on the fact that there are inherent structural problems within the country's economy.

Kayode said what Nigeria requires from IMF at the moment is very strong beneficial support.

According to him, the World Bank did a report on the last 10 years of economic activities in Nigeria and the conclusion is that even though Nigeria has an across-the-board economic growth of between 7 and 8 percent, there is no commensurate growth in the number of the employment created.

He said his ministry had taken up the issue of rising unemployment rates and had adopted a number of policy measures aimed at redressing the situation.

"I believe IMF and all other international partners must assist us to see how we can tackle the issue of unemployment," he added.

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

SCO, BRIC summits to focus on global financial crisis: Russian analysts

MOSCOW, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The summits of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) and the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China)
scheduled for next month in Russia will provide the participants with a platform
to discuss measures to tackle the global financial crisis, Russian analysts said
on Wednesday.

The SCO member states should further enhance coordination in working out
policies and measures amid the global economic downturn, Mihail Delyagin,
director of the Russian Institute for Globalization Problems, told Xinhua.

Russia, among other countries, proposed the creation of new international
reserve currencies during the G20 summit in London in early April, Delyagin
said.

The sides could discuss the proposal within a bilateral or multilateral
framework at the upcoming summit, which will also be conducive to preparation
for the next G20 summit, said the expert.

Discussion about the merits and flaws of the measures adopted to deal with
the financial crisis should be given priority at the BRIC summit, said Igor
Nikolayev, director of FBK Strategic Analysis Department.

The BRIC countries have many topics to talk about against the trend towards
world multipolarizaiton, Nikolayev said.

Special Report:
Global Financial
Crisis

Interview: Building Asia's own demand key to recovery

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

By Zhou Erjie, Xu Lingui, Wang Jingzhong

BALI, Indonesia, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Building up the demand of Asian countries, both domestic and intra-regional, is crucial to help Asia recover more quickly than the rest of the world, said Jong-Wha Lee, acting Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank(ADB) in an interview with Xinhua.

"Asian countries should do at least two things. One is to strengthen domestic demand and the other is to make big the regional demand, because this is very difficult time to rely on external demand for their source of growth," said Jong-Wha Lee on the sidelines of ADB's annual meeting ended Tuesday in Bali, Indonesia.

Export-reliant Asian economies are being hit hard by collapsing demand in the United States and Europe, as recession-hit consumers and companies cut back on spending.

ADB estimates that the crisis will keep more than 60 million people in developing Asia trapped in absolute poverty this year, and nearly 100 million more in 2010.

"Fortunately, Asian countries have more room to cut the policy rate, if the situation becomes deteriorating. Asian countries mobilize fiscal stimulus packages very actively, aggressively and very responsibly. So fiscal stimulus packages, especially like those adopted by China, (South) Korea and Japan would help to strengthen domestic demand," he said.

"China has been doing very well. Credit growth still maintains double-digit and actually is increasing. Fiscal stimulus was coming in," said Lee. "This time, China responded very quickly, earlier than other Asian countries and that's why we see some positive signs coming earlier than other countries."

In terms of boosting intra-regional demand, the economist called for cooperative efforts to do it simultaneously, mobilizing resources to build the regional demand.

"We need to trade more, we need to provide certain regional mechanism so as to strengthen trade and investment and financial transactions, like the CMIM (Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization) and Asian bond market. It will all do help to strengthen regional demand," he said.

China's domestic market is important to the region, Lee said, as Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) rely on China for more than 30 percent of their exports and the most important trading partner of Japan and India is both China.

"Our forecast for the Asian developing counties as a whole for 2009 is 3.4 percent. This is a significant slowdown from the 6.3 percent in 2008, but Asian countries will show a mild recovery in 2010, the growth rate will be more than 6 percent," Lee said.

"I think Asian economy is very close to the bottom. The big question is that how long they would stay at the bottom, it would be a long and hard process to get to recovery," he added.

The economist also contended that Asia's voices in the global institutions should be increased.

"Asia's economy has increased significantly. Now more than half of the (world's) population is living in Asia. One third of GDP in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) are produced in Asia, including Japan. But if you look at the global institutions, how much can you reflect Asia's voice and Asia's participation?" he asked.

"As much as our economic size becomes increased, our influence should also increase. That does not mean we need to have certain power, it also comes together with our responsibility. We try to be responsible to the global institutions," Lee said.

Germany to invest in tourism in Mozambique

MAPUTO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Germany has expressed interest to invest in the Mozambican tourism sector, and some companies from that country are said to be prepared to come to Mozambique in the near future, AIM reported on Tuesday.

This issue was discussed during an audience that Mozambican President Armando Guebuza gave on Monday to the deputy speaker of the German parliament, Susanne Kastner, who is visiting Mozambique.

Speaking to reporters after the audience, Kastner stressed the need for the countries to strengthen their cooperation relations, which is one of the objectives of her visit.

The Mozambican government has defined tourism as one of the most important sectors to earn revenue, and officials in this sector have been working hard to promote tourism in the country.

Mozambique took part in an annual international event in Berlin recently, which gathered tourism operators from countries across the world.

These events are organized to publicize tourist destinations in the participating countries and to create cooperation ties with public and private bodies through contacts that will benefit tourism at global level.

World Bank approves governance reforms for Africa

NAIROBI, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank has approved a first phase of
reforms to increase the influence of developing countries within the World Bank
Group, including adding a seat for Sub-Saharan Africa to allow developing
countries a majority of seats on the Executive Board, and expanding voting and
capital shares.

A statement from the bank's office in Nairobi said on Thursday that these
reforms were initially agreed at the World Bank Group's Annual Meetings in
October 2008, ahead of the Spring 2009 target.

"Expanding the developing world's voice is central to delivering effective
aid and promoting shared prosperity and development within a 21st Century
economic reality," said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick.

"Adding another seat for Africa, reaching developing country majority on
the Board, expanding developing country shares and laying the groundwork for
further reforms represent real change. I'm pleased our reform process is on
track. I encourage shareholders to take action now on governmental approvals of
the voting share changes, and to continue their efforts at further, more
ambitious, reforms."

With the Governors' approval, the amendment to the Bank's Articles of
Agreement to increase basic votes, which benefit smaller shareholders, now moves
to the 185 member countries for final approval.

In order to take effect the amendment must be approved by three-fifths of
member countries with 85 percent of votes.

According to the statement, this package of reforms include: creating an
additional Chair at the Board for Sub-Saharan Africa, which means that
developing countries can have the majority of seats on the Bank's Board,.

The reforms also included bringing the share of developing countries in
Bank voting power to 44 percent, aimed in particular at adding voice for the
low-income countries.

"As a second step, shareholders have agreed that the Bank should undertake
a comprehensive and intensive work program to realign bank shareholdings, moving
towards an equitable voting power between developed and developing countries,"
it said.

Such a work program, the statement said, would also include voice reforms
at the Bank's affiliated member organization, the International Finance
Corporation (IFC). Work on the second phase is already underway.

Participation of developing countries' nationals in the staff and
management of the World Bank plays an important role in the voice reform.

Already nearly two thirds of Bank staff and 42 percent of all Bank managers
are from developing countries. Since Zoellick became World Bank Group President,
seven of his nine senior appointments have been from developing countries.

African countries advised to diversify economies

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

LUSAKA, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A senior Zambian government official has advised
African countries to diversify their economies in view of the global crisis
which has resulted in falling commodity prices.

Zambian Vice President George Kunda told a meeting of ministers of Eastern
and Southern African countries that it was important to diversify economies in
order to cushion the problems of single commodity dependence.

"The current global crisis is affecting us more than we had anticipated.
Most of our countries are dependent of single or few commodities and the price
of these commodities have fallen drastically over the past six months," he said.

He said most commodities dependent on by most African countries such as
copper, oil, platinum coal and iron ore were now fetching less than six months
ago.

"Businesses are closing down and our people are losing jobs and their
income is being eroded. Because of lower prices, businesses are holding back new
investments to safeguard investors' value," he added.

He said African countries must realize that open market policies were no
longer optimal.

The ministers are meeting to look at the progress made in the Economic
Partnership Agreements (EPAs) currently going on between the African Caribbean
and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union (EU). Eastern and Southern
African countries are negotiating as one group.

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) secretary general
Sindiso Ngwenya said negotiations at a technical level "have so far been frozen"
waiting for political guidance but expressed hope that a resolution would be
found.

The ministers are expected to provide guidance as to the process, content
and strategy to engage the EU.

The EPAs are expected to replace the existing Contonou Agreement that
exists between the EU and the ACP.

Official: Kuwait summit serious step towards establishing Arab economic bloc

KUWAIT CITY, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The General Union of
Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture for Arab Countries said here
Saturday that the first Arab economic summit slated to be held on Jan. 19-20
will be a serious step to boost efforts to establish an Arab economic bloc.

Adnan Al-Qassar, Chairman of the union, made the
remarks in a speech at the inauguration of the "Private Sector and Civil Society
Forum" held ahead of the Arab economic summit.

Al-Qassar told the forum that achieving the economic goals of Arab countries required a thorough Arab vision that put in mind the collective needs of all countries.

Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah addresses the opening ceremony of a forum on Arab private sector and civil society in Kuwait City, Kuwait, Jan. 17, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)
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The upcoming Arab economic summit, which would focus
on the global financial crisis, infrastructure in the Arab world and social
issues, provides chances of forging common action, said the official.

Al-Qassar voiced hope that the summit would take
serious decisions toward an Arab free trade area, the establishment of a customs
union by 2015, and founding a joint Arab market by 2020.

He emphasized the importance of dealing with
obstacles facing the transportation sector, setting policies for combating
unemployment, encouraging investment, supporting industries and projects, and
achieving Arab food security.

He also underscored the significance of unifying tax
and economic systems, improving the environment for joint Arab projects,
studying the possibility of establishing a fund to compensate countries that
would be harmed by integration.

The official called for developing infrastructure to
activate trade and investment among Arab countries especially in the fields of
transportation, communication, roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, ports, energy,
electricity, gas and agricultural projects.

Arab countries should approve a joint policy to keep
track of concepts related to economy, technology, and knowledge, Al-Qassar said.

The two-day Kuwait summit, the first one initially
designed to be devoted to economic issues, also adopted the Gaza crisis on the
agenda, according to Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

The Arab economic summit has not lost its economic
nature because of discussing the tragic situation in the Gaza Strip, which has
been under intensive Israeli offensive for the past three weeks, said Moussa on
the sidelines of Saturday's forum.

African countries urge rich nations to put early end to financial crisis

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

by Xinhua Writers Gu Zhenqiu, Chen Gang

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- African countries are mostly victims of
the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s, and the
developed countries, which are responsible for the current global financial
crisis, should take necessary steps to make the crisis duration as short as
possible, several African finance ministers said here on Saturday.

The ministers from Cote d'Ivoire, Tanzania and Zambia made the appeals at a
joint press conference here, held on the sidelines of the two-day spring
sessions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The meetings kicked off on Saturday and drew finance ministers and central
bank governors from all over the world to discuss how to better combat the
current global financial crisis.

"The financial crisis did not start from Africa, it started from here,"
Situmbeko Musokotwane, the Zambian minister of finance, told the press
conference, referring to the United States, origin of the six-month-old
financial crisis, which has since spread across the globe.

The Zambian minister's statement won immediate endorsement from Charles
Koffy Diby, the finance minister of Cote d'Ivoire, who said, "The crisis didn't
come from us. We are victims. The crisis created a drain on our resources."

Therefore, "we urge the rich countries to take the necessary steps to make
sure that the financial crisis will be as short as possible," the Zambian
minister said.

FINANCIAL CRISIS FELT IN AFRICA

The crisis is now in full force in Africa as a result of the significant
slowdown in demand in the rest of the world, which has caused a huge decline in
demand for African exports, IMF officials said.

"The repercussion of the financial crisis will be deeply felt in Africa,"
Diby said, adding that the impact of the crisis is characterized by the emerging
facts including what he called "the scarcity of direct investment fund."

Echoing Diby's view, Tanzanian Minister of Finance Mustafa Mkulo said: "If
it was not for the economic crisis, the (Tanzanian) economy was robust. We are
doing very well. In fact, we had a sustainable 7-percent growth rate for more
than three years."

Underscoring the extent of the challenges, the IMF issued a new economic
forecast on Wednesday, projecting that the world economy would shrink by 1.3
percent this year, the first decline since World War II, in what the IMF called
"by far the deepest global recession since the Great Depression."

Hurt by the global economic recession, growth in sub-Saharan Africa is
projected to decline from just under 5.5 percent in 2008to 1.5 percent in 2009
before recovering to about 3.75 percent in 2010 -- still below its pre-crisis
level, the IMF says in its latest regional outlook for the continent.

Last year, Tanzania registered a growth rate of 7.4 percent, and this year
it had projected a growth rate of 7.8 percent, Mkulo said. "These figures were
confirmed by the IMF."

"But unfortunately, six months ago it (the financial crisis) happened," he
said. "It deterred our economic growth efforts."

The impact of the global economic meltdown has led to a drastic drop in
Zambia's export earnings and household incomes, and increased unemployment,
especially in the mining sector, said Musokotwane.

"There are more than 12,000 workers (who) have been laid off in the mining
sector," he noted. "Zambia's currency, the Kwacha, has also depreciated sharply
because of the slowdown in financial direct investment."

"Demand for African exports has weakened and prices for most commodity
exports have fallen," said Antoinette Sayeh, director of the IMF's African
department, at a press briefing on Friday. "Tighter global credit and investor
risk aversion have led to a reversal of portfolio inflows, are discouraging
foreign investment, and have made trade finance more costly."

NOT FULLY RELYING ON EXTERNAL
AID

The annual spring sessions of the World Bank and the IMF is the first world
gathering on the global financial crisis since the G20 leaders pledged in early
April in London to boost support for the World Bank, the IMF and other
international organizations by 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars.

The Tanzanian minister said that G20 leaders should honor their pledge at
their London summit. At the same time, he rebuked the statement that African
countries rely too much on the external assistance from such international
organizations as the World Bank and the IMF.

"It's not true that we are raising our hands, and it's not true that we are
bending our arms to them," he said.

"For Tanzania, we are talking as partners," he said, referring to his
meeting with the IMF chief and adding that he, on behalf of the Tanzanian
government, thanked the World Bank, the IMF and G20, which groups 20 largest
economies in the world, for what they are going to do in assisting his and other
African countries.

The IMF said that the abrupt slowdown puts at risk earlier hard-won gains
and progress against poverty in Africa. While the appropriate policy response
depends on country-specific circumstances, the priority for all sub-Saharan
countries must be to contain the adverse impact of the crisis, which has
resulted in slumping trade and commodity prices.

Financing is likely to remain strained because of declining capital
inflows. Generally tighter global funding conditions are expected to have
noticeable effects on middle-income countries, particularly South Africa and the
frontier markets of Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania, the report said.

The finance minister of Cote d'Ivoire said that the African countries lack
the resources which the developed countries have for their ambitious stimulus
package, and he called on the developed countries to support them in their
efforts to reduce the weight of burn of foreign debts.

In order to stimulate the economy, "we have signed mining contracts with
different companies," the Tanzanian finance minister said, citing the contracts
his government signed with two companies from Canada and one from Australia.

"We're continuing negotiations for that, so the people of Tanzania can
benefit from our natural resources," he added.

"Steps have been taken to boost the performance of non-traditional exports
on the international market as a way of raising money for the country," the
minister said.

"WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE DEPENDING ON FOREIGN
AID"

For his part, Musokotwane also appealed for increased allocation of
financial resources to support critical social expenditure and long-term
investment necessary for economic diversification.

Meanwhile, the minister acknowledged the importance of the external
financial assistance. But he also denied that African countries are the only
ones that rely on outside financing amid the crisis.

"It's not (just) us depending on external financing," Musokotwane argued
when an African reporter challenged him on the assistance issue.

"Rich countries, like the United States, also ask for help from the outside
world, (for example,) they borrow money from China, Saudi (Arabia) and other
countries," he noted.