Opec approves $320m development funds

11/07/2017 07:33 AST

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has approved new funds worth more than $320 million for setting up key projects in developing countries across the world, said a report.

The loans underline the international organisation's commitment to the energy-water-food nexus as well as the transportation sector, reported state news agency Wam, citing a top official of the Opec Fund for International Development (Ofid).

"Ofid has made clear its readiness to mobilise all available means to support these sectors across the globe," remarked Suleiman Jasser Al Herbish, the director general of Ofid, which has the UAE and Saudi Arabia along with 11 other nations as members.

"The latest round of development funding was approved in line with our Corporate Plan 2016-2025, which has the energy-water-food nexus at its heart," stated Al Herbish while speaking at the 159th session of the organisation's governing board held in Vienna recently.

Under the public sector facility, which represents the backbone of Ofid's financing operations, one third of the new development funding, i.e. $111 million, has been allocated to consolidate essential enterprises in areas of energy, water, agriculture, irrigation, and transport in seven low-income countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, said the Wam report.

All public sectors funding facilities are being conducted in collaboration with the governments of low-income nations and other development institutions to ensure synergy and maximise results to the best possible levels in order ensure sustainable development with the ultimate objective of eliminating poverty in these parts of the world, it added.

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