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Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Henrietta Fore led the U.S. delegation to the international donors' conference for Georgia in Brussels on October 22. The conference was co-chaired by the European Commission and the World Bank and co-hosted together with the French Presidency and the incoming Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union. During the conference, Director Fore joined with leaders from the international community and multilateral organizations to affirm support for Georgia in the wake of the August 2008 conflict and formally pledged $1 billion in U.S. aid to support Georgia's economic recovery, as previously announced by the President and Secretary of State on September 3. Other international donors followed the U.S. lead and according to conference organizers pledged $4.55 billion against the World Bank-led needs assessment target of $3.2 billion. This breaks down as $3.7 billion in public loans and grants and $850 million from private donors.

Over the next two years, the United States' $1 billion dollar economic support package will provide for efforts to assist internally displaced people, rebuild infrastructure, restore economic growth, and sustain investor confidence in the Georgian economy as well as foster continued democratic reform and energy security.

While in Brussels, Director Fore also signed an agreement with Georgian Finance Minister Nikoloz Gilauri to provide $250 million in budgetary support to the Georgian government as part of the United States' $1 billion economic support package. The sudden and unplanned increase in government expenditures caused by the conflict has created a need for budgetary support, and this agreement will enable financial support to begin to flow to the Georgian government within a matter of weeks.

This $1 billion pledge is in addition to previously planned bilateral assistance of approximately $100 million over next two years. The United States has provided Georgia with over $1.89 billion to support its democratic, economic, and social development since 1992.

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