By Nihal Zaroug.
Tripoli, 12 December:
Third Deputy Prime Minister Abdusalam Al-Qadi met with Marwan Abassi, Libya’s World Bank representative, today to discuss . . .[restrict]prospects of cooperation between Libya and the World Bank.
The World Bank is interested in lending its expertise and technical support to raise the level of performance of the country’s public sector by helping rebuild public institutions and enhancing their administrative capabilities.
During a separate meeting, also held today, between the British Secretary of State for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, and all three deputy prime minsters — Al-Qadi, Awad Al-Barasi and Sadiq Abdulkarim Abdulrahman — the subject of reforming Libya’s state institutions, in particular the public sector was similarly discussed. Bilateral cooperation in other sectors was also addressed.
The British government has on several occasions signaled its willingness to assist Libya in moving forward into a modern and democratic state, and recently British Defence Minister Andrew Murrison, stated that compensation will not be requested for the UK’s role in last year’s offensive to oust Gaddafi.
Earlier this month, a UK trade delegation headed by cabinet minister Ken Clarke was in Libya to promote trade between the two countries. The delegation comprised some 22 companies and organisations from a variety of sectors, part of the Middle East Association, a London based business group.
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