Jordan Times
Thursday, May 1, 2008
PM seeks Arab, Kuwaiti
funds for strategic projects
AMMAN (JT) - Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Wednesday explored, during a visit
to Kuwait, the possibility of Arab and Kuwaiti funds financing economic and
development projects in Jordan.
He cited the Disi Water Conveyance Project, the building of silos to store grain
and setting up oil storage tanks as prominent ventures that would hedge against
increasing prices of these commodities, in particular.
During a visit to the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD),
Dahabi reviewed with its Chairman and Director General Abdul Latif Hamad means
to expand the fund’s participation in financing projects, aimed at propelling
the Kingdom’s economic drive and improving citizens’ living conditions.
Work on the Disi Water Conveyance Project, expected to provide the capital with
100 million cubic metres (mcm) of water annually, will start in June this year
after the project’s implementation was scheduled for July 2007 but was postponed
due to several reasons.
The project, deemed as a key solution for the country’s annual water deficit of
around 500mcm, has faced several obstacles since 2001.
Finally, the tender was floated again and a Turkish company, GAMA, won the bid
in September last year.
Dahabi said the Kingdom is currently seeking to acquire grants from several
countries and donor parties to carry out these projects.
If the country fails to acquire sufficient funding through grants, it will
resort to funds which provide soft loans with a grace period, the premier
indicated.
Addressing energy investment projects, Dahabi highlighted the Kingdom’s current
efforts to invest in uranium as a source of energy.
At the meeting, Dahabi explained that the Kingdom put an integral strategy to
maintain price stability of main commodities to ensure sufficiency.
Jordan is also considering agricultural investments, whether in the Kingdom or
on the land which Jordan is allowed to utilise in Sudan, in accordance with an
agreement between the two countries.
The premier underlined the importance of AFESD efforts in promoting joint Arab
action and cooperation, commending the fund’s contributions to Jordanian
economic and social ventures during the past 25 years.
The meeting was attended by Industry and Trade Minister Amer Hadidi and
Jordanian Ambassador to Kuwait Jumaa Abbadi.
Expressing the fund’s readiness to expand its economic contributions to Jordan,
Hamad indicated that the AFESD has lowered its interest rate to 3 per cent from
4.5 per cent, on project financing loans, to be effective from the beginning of
the coming year.
In March 2008, the government and the fund signed a soft loan agreement to
develop the area of Wadi Araba, one of the Kingdom’s most underprivileged areas.
They also signed another soft loan agreement to be used for expanding the Samra
electricity station. The fund also provided a grant in favour of the King
Hussein Cancer Centre.
The AFESD is an autonomous regional Pan-Arab development finance organisation.
The Arab League General Secretariat established the Kuwait-based fund in 1971,
and it commenced operations in early 1974.
Since then, the fund has financed 39 local development projects in Jordan at a
total cost of $1.413 billion in the fields of energy, communications, health,
education, infrastructure, water and irrigation, agriculture and rural
development, according to a Planning Ministry statement.
In addition, it provided the Kingdom with grants totalling $20 million.
Also on Wednesday, the premier visited the Kuwait Fund for Arab and Economic
Development (KFAED) where he discussed with its Chairman and Director General
Abdul Wahab Badr prospects of expanding cooperation, in terms of providing funds
for projects, especially in the fields of energy, water and heathcare.
The prime minister briefed the fund’s chairman on the Kingdom’s proposed
projects, underlining its contributions to Jordan’s development drive.
Since 1962, the KFAED has funded around 24 projects in the country, mainly in
the water and electricity sectors, with a total cost of $441.7 million.