CRI听力：International Donors Pledge 7.4 Billion of Dollars to Palestine

International donors has pledged 7. 4 billion U.S. dollars to support Palestine in the coming three years, a key effort to drive the newly-relaunched Middle East peace process.

The massive amount was higher than Palestinian expectations. The Palestinian government had asked for 5.6 billion US dollars in 2008-2010 period to shore up its economy.

Former British Prime Minister and Quartet representative Tony Blair said the aid pledges are quite fruitful.

"In the end, if we get a strong process moving forward, I believe that all the Palestinian people will want to participate in a process leading to their own state. And I know that, for the Palestinian leadership and actually for the whole of the international community, our desire is to see one Palestinian state, Gaza and West Bank together, that state living side-by-side with Israel."

Big spenders included the European Union, with 650 million US dollars for 2008, Arab League members, with 1.3 billion over three years, and the United States, with 555 million US dollars for 2008.

The aid pledges were made at a one-day conference hosted by France, with representatives from some 90 countries and international institutions attended to mobilize political and financial support for the emergence of a viable Palestinian state.