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December 10, 2003

US pledges millions at WSIS. The economic development agency of the US government, OPIC, has announced a $400 million finance facility in the telecommunications and IT sectors of 152 countries - this is on top of $5 billion of total support already spent. But this will be a private-public mechanism - NOT part of a digital solidarity fund.

The Daily Summit asked OPIC President Dr Peter Watson if support was dependent on a country's record on human rights. "We always respect international labour standards, environment and human rights as a condition to all of our projects" he said. So, we asked about Iran, which censors the internet. "We are not currently authorised to do business in Iran. Out of 152 countries, Iran is not one of them".

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