Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announces new aid to the Palestinian Authority. President Obama delivers remarks in Indonesia. Australia and the U.S. are teaming up to meet green goals. The USAID is borrowing a page from the private sector’s play book in funding high-risk projects. It takes international cooperation to go after sophisticated criminal syndicates. And, finally, meet Goris Mustaqim a young Indonesian entrepreneur in a hurry.
$150 Million in New U.S. Aid to Palestinians
The United States has provided an additional $150 million in direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority, part of nearly $600 million in overall U.S. support for services and security in the West Bank and Gaza territories this year. “This figure underscores the strong determination of the American people and this administration to stand with our Palestinian friends even during difficult economic times,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says.
Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World
President Obama says that since becoming president he has worked to repair relations between the United States and Muslim communities around the world that have been frayed over many years by mistrust and suspicion. “We can choose to be defined by our differences, and give in to a future of suspicion and mistrust. Or we can choose to do the hard work of forging common ground, and commit ourselves to the steady pursuit of progress,” he says.
Obama Questions New Israeli Construction
President Obama says Israel’s plan to build 1,300 new apartments in East Jerusalem is not helping the ongoing peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Speaking in Jakarta, Obama says he has not yet had a full briefing concerning Israel’s intentions in the announcement of the new construction, but said “this kind of activity is never helpful.”
PEPFAR Succeeding Against AIDS
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is having an “extraordinary impact” on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, with data showing that more than 2.5 million people have been directly supported by its treatments through 2009.
Green Teamwork
The United States and Australia are working together to meet their respective renewable energy goals. Australia wants 20 percent of its energy needs to be met by renewable power sources a decade from now. President Obama has said he wants one-quarter of all electricity consumed in the United States in 2025 to come from renewables.
Fast Track for Development Aid
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Development Innovation Ventures uses a venture-capital model of private-sector innovation to invest resources in high-risk, high-return projects that are often difficult to undertake through traditional agency structures.
Cooperation on Crime
The Obama administration is developing innovative global partnerships across the Pacific and Atlantic to fight increasingly sophisticated transnational criminal enterprises.
A Young Indonesian Entrepreneur
Goris Mustaqim of Bandung, Indonesia, is the founder of PT Resultan Nusantara, a technology firm that employs 35 people and has 10 billion rupiah — $1.1 million USD — in revenue. But the 27-year-old Mustaqim, right, has still bigger ambitions, including expanding his Asgar Muda Foundation to work with youth in half of Indonesia’s provinces, creating more businesses and landing on the list of Indonesia’s most wealthy. He also wants to enter politics.
