OPIC and the Arab Spring: Investing for Change

June 2, 2011 • 7:30 – 9:00 pm EDT

Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)

Please RSVP to Amasia Zargarian at azargarian@csis.org

OPIC advances the U.S. foreign policy and national security agenda. Swift to act after the earthquake in Haiti and during the aftermath of violence in Egypt, OPIC is active in some of the world’s most challenging environments. By mobilizing private capital across the developing world in general, OPIC also allows U.S. companies to expand into high-priority countries where investment possibilities would otherwise be prohibitively challenging.  OPIC’s mandate and capabilities make it unique among U.S. agencies.  Not only is OPIC flexible and can operate in areas too unstable for others, but it also returns money to the U.S. Treasury. 

In the current budgetary crunch, the agency’s ability to fund itself while furthering U.S. goals makes OPIC a powerful tool of the U.S. Government to respond to strategic crises, such as the Arab Spring.  President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield will discuss OPIC’s critical role in the U.S. approach to the movements sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, and what OPIC can do to secure the future of the broader region.

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Daniel F. Runde
Senior Vice President; William A. Schreyer Chair; Director, Project on Prosperity and Development