| Notice to the Press Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC November 9, 2006 Millennium Challenge Corporation and Republic of Mali to Sign $461 Million Millennium Challenge Compact
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Chair of the Board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), will make remarks at the signing of the Millennium Challenge Compact between the United States and the Republic of Mali, on Monday, November 13, 2006, at 9:00 a.m., in the Benjamin Franklin Room, at the Department of State. Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré and MCC Chief Executive Officer Ambassador John Danilovich will also make remarks. The $461 million Compact will be signed by Ambassador Danilovich and Mali’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Moctar Ouane. The five-year, anti-poverty program aims to reduce poverty through economic growth by increasing production and productivity of agriculture and small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as expanding Mali’s access to markets and trade. The program will support the development of key infrastructure and policy reforms by addressing the country’s constraints to growth by capitalizing on two of Mali’s major assets, the Niger River and the Bamako-Sénou International Airport. This will be the MCC’s 10th Compact. The Millennium Challenge Corporation, a United States government corporation designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world, is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom, and investments in people that promote economic growth and elimination of extreme poverty. This event is open for press coverage. Press Contacts: Office of Press Relations, U.S. Department of State Media representatives may attend this briefing upon presentation of one of the following: (1) a U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense, or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification (driver's license or passport). 2006/1024 |
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