In fact, a significant part of the Federal Reserve's partnership with NeighborWorks involves funding the development of courses designed to help community leaders address stabilization challenges, particularly with respect to the acquisition and disposition of real estate.
In 2003, for a third year in a row, the economies of the countries of South Eastern Europe grew faster, on average, than the countries in central Eastern Europe and the Baltics that joined the EU last May However, estimates suggest that, in real GDP terms, the economies from South Eastern European countries are still below from where they stood fifteen years ago, reflecting slow progress in transition in the early 1990s and economic disruptions due to wars and political turmoil.