MENAFN, Middle East
Feb 4 2005
Azerbaijan Gets SR67.5m Saudi Soft Loan Facility
Arab News – 04/02/2005
Saudi Arabia will provide an SR67.5 million soft loan facility to
Azerbaijan. “The loan agreement will be signed tentatively next month
and the funds will be used for building and expanding infrastructure
to boost potable water and power supplies in that country,” said
Naghi Jaabbarov, an Azeri diplomat, here.
On behalf of the Kingdom, Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) will
allocate the loan. “SFD Executive Director Yusuf Al-Bassam and Azeri
Ambassador Dr. Elman Arasli discussed the modalities of this loan
facility here on Tuesday,” said Jaabbarov, who also attended the
meeting. He pointed out that the terms and conditions of the credit
facility are easy with 20-year repayment period besides a five-year
grace period.
The loan and the funds already made available to Azerbaijan are used
to build infrastructural facilities, which were largely damaged
during the Armenian aggression. The diplomat said that Riyadh has
always been extending a helping hand to Baku. A young nation,
Azerbaijan regained independence after the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991.
Asked about other SFD-funded projects, he said the Saudi aid
organization has also signed an agreement with the Azeri government
to fund the construction of five schools for 1,280 children in each
of the five densely populated districts of the Azeri capital. More
than 200 schools have been built in that country over the past eight
years using foreign funds including Saudi money. Azerbaijan is also
seeking SFD’s support to execute a multimillion-riyal road project.
Many Arab organizations including the Jeddah-based Islamic
Development Bank (IDB) have come forward to support Azerbaijan in
implementing projects in different sectors, especially
infrastructural projects. A Saudi entrepreneur has also invested in a
major hotel project.
A group of 63 Azeri doctors arrived in Saudi Arabia recently. It was
the third group of Azeri doctors recruited by the Kingdom to be
deployed at different Saudi health institutions.