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KFAED approves $30M credit line to Uzbekistan

Business Materials 16 March 2019 10:35 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 16

By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:

Board of Directors of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) approved the allocation of a preferential credit line for $30 million to Uzbekistan, Trend reports with refrence to Uzbek Foreign Ministry.

KFAED regional manager for Central Asia and Europe, Fawaz al-Adsani, and the ambassador of Uzbekistan in Kuwait, Bahromjon Aloev agreed on that during a meeting.

Fawaz al-Adesani noted that the Fund’s Board of Directors approved the allocation of the second tranche of concessional loans worth $30 million in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Uzbekistan and the KFAED, about the provision of concessional loans in 2017-2019.

"These loans will be used to finance infrastructure projects included in the Program for the construction of individual housing in rural areas in Uzbekistan, which will be implemented in Karakalpakstan, Kashkadarya, Samarkand, Surkhandarya, Fergana and Tashkent regions", the press service of the Foreign Ministry said.

Experts of the Kuwaiti Fund are currently preparing a visit to Uzbekistan to identify projects and prepare a draft loan agreement, which is planned to be signed in the second half of this year.

Following the negotiations, an agreement was reached to start joint work on the preparation of the next memorandum of understanding between the government of Uzbekistan and the KFAED on providing soft loans in 2020-2022 to finance social projects in the country.

"Uzbekistan, thanks to its sustainable economy and creditworthiness, is one of the reliable partners of the Kuwait Fund. In the period from 1997 to 2018, the KFAED allocated concessional loans of $183.1 million for the implementation of 9 social projects and grants of $2.4 million for preparing a feasibility study for 5 projects, " Fawaz al-Adsani said.

He stated that grants and loans were used in such areas as improving water supply, restoring the irrigation network and drainage system, equipping regional medical centers of the Uzbekistan specialized center for cardiac surgery with modern medical equipment, developing engineering infrastructure in rural areas and reconstructing roads and others.

In January last year, the parties signed a loan agreement, under which KFAED allocated the first tranche of soft loans for $30 million.

Moreover, at the end of November last year, the Board of Directors of KFAED approved a decision to allocate a grant of $500,000 to prepare a feasibility study of two projects - “Improving the water supply system in Kagan and Kagan district of the Bukhara region” and “Improving the drinking water supply system in Sherabad district Surkhandarya region ".

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