THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

                  STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY ON
                   ALBANIAN-AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND

The President today announced the establishment of the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund, a $30 million investment fund designed to promote private sector activity in Albania.

The following persons have been named to the Board of Directors of the Fund: Domenick G. Scaglione, (Chair), Founder and CEO of Intercontinental Associates Inc., a trade and investment advisory firm; Michael D. Granoff, Founder and CEO of Pomona Capital, a private investment fund; Herta Lande Seidman, Co-Founder and Chairman of Tradenet Corporation and former Assistant Secretary for Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce; Rodney B. Wagner, Vice Chairman and Director of J.P. Morgan; James H. Duffy, free-lance author and former law partner at Cravath, Swaine and Moore; Thomas Lambert Cranmer, Assistant Treasurer of foreign exploration affiliates of Mobil Oil Corporation and Vice Chairman, U.S. Business Council for South Eastern Europe; and Calvin Grigsby, President and CEO of Fiscal Funding Co. and Chairman of GB Derivatives Products Company.

The Fund will have authority to make equity investments and loans and, as appropriate, offer technical assistance to promote new private initiatives, entrepreneurs and privatization in Albania. Special emphasis will be placed on the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as joint ventures that involve U.S. and other foreign investors with Albanian partners.

The Fund will be capitalized at $30 million in foreign assistance appropriations (administered by the United States Agency for International Development) over a 3-4 year period. It is expected that the Fund will use its U.S. capitalization to attract other resources for private sector development in Albania.

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