Published: January 3, 2012
Admission takes countries closer to receiving bank funds to support reforms.
Tunisia and Jordan have become the latest members of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), taking both countries closer to receiving funding from the bank.
The countries sought membership of the EBRD last year, each saying that support from the bank would help them to implement economic and political reform.
Along with Egypt and Morocco, both founder members of the bank, Tunisia and Jordan will now be supported by the Deauville Partnership, an initiative launched in May 2011 in response to social and political changes taking place in parts of the Middle East and North Africa.
The EBRD is extending its remit to include the southern and eastern Mediterranean region. This year the bank expects to create a fund that would allow the start of EBRD investments in the four countries ahead of their becoming countries of operations. The bank says it has the capacity to invest up to €2.5bn (US$3.2bn) a year across the region.