Many investors can only buy Fidelity funds... for example, in 403b plans.  They should be interested in this fund.

Historically, new funds at Fidelity tend to do pretty well as managers build a portfolio from their best ideas, especially if the fund is a new one of its kind.  Kind of a back handed endorsement of focused funds.

There are few good investments in the middle east as most exchanges don't allow foreign ownership.  Israel is the major exception. There are few viable markets in Africa (South Africa being the major exception).  Eastern europe is a rapidly growing part of the world as it has been liberated from the shackles of communism and Russian domination.

I would rather invest in a fund like this than a pure Russian fund.  In fact, I have no interest in investing in Russia, but I do in this fund.  If you view it as a poor way to buy Russian, I have no problem with that.

erryl