This is Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Development Report.
Investors are being offered a new way to support independent media in
developing countries. The Swiss private bank Vontobel and the social investment
group responsAbility launched the offering last week.
They say the new product will provide not just a financial return, but
"social added value." They say it is a chance to invest in press freedom with a
moderate level of risk. Vontobel spokeswoman Claudia Kraaz says the new
financial product will be listed on the Swiss Exchange starting May 18th.
This product combines two things. One is a bond-like investment. The other is
a loan to a New York non-profit organization, the Media Development Loan Fund.
The goal is to raise twenty million Swiss francs, about sixteen million
dollars. Twenty percent of that will go into the loan. Interest on the loan will
be charged at a rate of one percent.
The announcement said Bank Vontobel and the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation will guarantee the product is tradable at all times. And they will
guarantee that investors can resell it, if necessary, before the end of the
five-year term.
The Media Development Loan Fund will use the money for low-cost financing of
projects in developing democracies. The group has financed independent media
companies in seventeen countries.
The money is used for such things as broadcasting equipment, computers and
printing presses. The Media Development Loan Fund currently has out about thirty
million dollars in loans. Spokesman Peter Whitehead tells us that loan losses
are three percent.
Sasa Vucinic started the Media Development Loan Fund in nineteen ninety-five.
He was chief of independent Radio B-92 in Serbia. He calls the new investment
product a "truly revolutionary step." He says it could provide an example for
using private finance to support other social projects around the world.
The announcement came on May third, World Press Freedom Day.
The group Reporters Without Borders said
at least sixty-three journalists and five media assistants were killed worldwide last year.
It says more than 1300 media workers were attacked or threatened, the most
since 1995.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Read
and listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. This is Shep O'Neal.
