Press Release

OFID prepares to welcome Bill Clinton
OFID and Clinton Foundation unite in battle against AIDS

10/2007 May 11, 2007 Vienna, Austria
Press inquiries:

Former US President, Bill Clinton, is to visit the headquarters of the Vienna-based OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) later this month in his capacity as founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation of New York.

Mr. Clinton will meet with OFID Director-General, Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, on May 24 to finalize an agreement for a major HIV/AIDS initiative that is being undertaken jointly by the two organizations.

OFID and the Clinton Foundation are each contributing US$4 million to the project, which seeks to improve the quality of care and treatment available to children infected with the virus in eight African countries. Independently, both institutions are heavily involved in the global campaign against HIV/AIDS.

The joint initiative is the latest in a series of schemes launched by OFID under the auspices of its Special Grant Account for HIV/AIDS Operations. Set up in June 2001, the US$50 million Account is helping to finance prevention, mitigation and support efforts in close to 100 severely affected developing countries.

OFID is the development finance institution established in Vienna in 1976 by the Member States of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to spur social and economic advancement in the developing world. To date, OFID has committed more than US$8.7 billion in funding to help build essential infrastructure, improve food security, enhance human resources and raise income and living standards in 119 low-income nations. OFID provides its financing in soft loans and outright grants as well as in contributions to the resources of other organizations, such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Common Fund for Commodities, whose work benefits developing countries.

Mr. Clinton’s visit will be the second one to OFID by a former US President. In June 1998, Jimmy Carter was a guest at the Parkring Headquarters to receive a grant for his charity foundation, the Carter Center.