China to boost health care delivery in Ziyang City with new OFID loan

February 15, 2016, Vienna, Austria. The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has signed a public sector loan agreement with China to co-finance construction of a 13-story inpatient building for a hospital in Ziyang City to strengthen its capacity and improve the quality of healthcare delivery. The new facility is expected to boost annual outpatient visits to over half a million and be able to accommodate around 35,000 inpatients/year.

The US$15m agreement for the Sichuan Healthcare Project was signed by OFID Director-General Suleiman J Al-Herbish and Shaolin Yang, Director-General, Department of International Economic and Financial Cooperation, Ministry of Finance.

Mr Al-Herbish, speaking at the signature ceremony, summarized OFID’s support extended to China throughout the years to help enhance the country’s education, energy, water supply and health sectors. He also spoke of OFID’s grants to China which addressed different aspects of its socio-economic development program.

Mr Yang thanked Mr Al-Herbish for OFID’s ongoing support and noted the Sichuan Healthcare Project would have an “important impact” in the area. He also said that his country looked forward to continuing its cooperation with OFID.