OFID concludes high-level mission to Lima, Peru: Director-General signs loan agreements with nine partner countries

Vienna, Austria October 12, 2015. A delegation from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), headed by Director-General Suleiman J Al-Herbish, has concluded a high-level mission to Lima, Peru, to attend the 2015 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as a number of other important meetings.

Highlights of the mission included the signing of public sector loan agreements, totalling nearly US$155m, with nine partner countries. The agreements were signed by Al-Herbish and the respective ministers of the recipient countries for the following projects/programs:

Burundi. US$10m. Rural Electrification Project in Kirundu Province.
Chad. US$6m. INSTA Expansion.
Haiti. US$20.4m. Peligre Hydroelectric Power Plant Rehabilitation, Phase II.
Lao PDR. US$15m. Vientiane Sustainable Urban Transport.
Niger. US$15m. Family Farming Development Program.
Paraguay. US$43.36m. South-West Integration Road Corridors Infrastructure.
Rwanda. US$15m. Nyagatare-Byumba-Base Road.
Togo. US$10m. OTI Plain Rural Development.
Zimbabwe. US$20m. First Education.

For more information, please refer to the country data on OFID’s website.

The OFID delegation also attended meetings of the G-24 Ministers, the Development Committee and the Deauville Partnership Finance Meeting of Ministers. The delegation also participated in the International Stakeholders Roundtable meeting for the MENA Region, co-chaired by Jim Yong Kim, World Bank President, and Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General. The meeting discussed the new engagement strategy and proposed financing mechanisms for the MENA Region, as well as the current refugee crisis. Furthermore, the delegation attended the Meeting of Arab Ministers with Yong Kim, during which ministers highlighted the current security situations in their countries, in particular Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Tunisia and Yemen.

Al-Herbish also had a side-meeting with HE Fausto Herrera, Minister of Finance of Ecuador, during which he briefed him on the recent development in OFID, in particular its new Corporate Plan 2016-2025. Herrera will become Chairman of the Ministerial Council in its 2016 Session.

Several bilateral meetings were also held to review the status of OFID’s cooperation with other international finance institutions and partner countries, and to identify potential private sector and trade finance transactions.