International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, left, chats with Russian deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak during a Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, left, chats with Russian deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak during a Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, left, talks with Tunisian Finance Minister Jelloul Ayed during the group photo at the Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, right, chats with U.S Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner during the group photo at the Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, right, welcomes eyf Al-Nasr, Libyan Transitional National Council's ambassador in France, during a Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, right, welcomes his Japanese counterpart Jun Azumi during a Deauville partnership meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept.10, 2011. The Deauville Partnership is a multi-billion-dollar program of aid and credit to Egypt and Tunisia that was agreed at a G8 summit in Deauville last May. Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
MARSEILLE, France (AP) ? Financial leaders from the world's most developed nations are discussing ways of accelerating the flow of tens of billions of dollars to help support democracies in North Africa and the Middle East, British Treasury chief George Osborne said Saturday.
Osborne told reporters that finance ministers from Europe, the U.S., Canada and rich Arab countries would also commit to boosting trade with the region during the talks Saturday.
Osborne spoke to reporters ahead of meetings between those finance ministers and the finance ministers of Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Jordan, as well as representatives of Libya's National Transitional Council.
"What you'll see today is confirmation that we want to see the EBRD expand the committment of money now," Osborne said. The EBRD, or European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is in the process of reforming its statutes to permit it to expand its area of operations out of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and into North Africa and the Middle East.
Osborne said financial officials will also "try to get some money to the EBRD in the short term so they can get going on it's work ahead of" its planned reform.
Along with financing from other international development banks, officials expect to mobilize "tens of billions of dollars" in lending capacity over the next three years to aid the five countries invited to Saturday's meeting, Osborne said.
Osborne said officials would also commit to lifting sanctions on Libya, unfreezing its assets, and also "significantly get oil production going as quickly as possible."
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