Azerbaijan, Saudi Fund for Development sign loan agreement
By Nazrin Gadimova
The Azerbaijani government and the Saudi Fund for Development have signed a loan agreement on "Upgrade and expansion of water supply and sanitation of Khirdalan city", AzerSu OJSC said on July 4.
Addressing the signing ceremony, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Abid Sharifov said cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Saudi Fund are developing successfully.
Sharifov noted that Azerbaijan uses the loans receiving from various international financial institutions in the implementation of infrastructure projects in different spheres. He also said the Saudi fund allocated loans on favorable terms for four projects covering water, transport and educational spheres.
Vice President and Executive Director of the Saudi Fund Yousef Bin Ibrahim Al-Bassam congratulated Azerbaijani people on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, adding that the fund plays a key role in improving the Azerbaijani infrastructure and providing credit for new projects in the case of requests.
Then, Chairman of the Azersu Gorkhmaz Huseynov and Al-Bassam signed the loan agreement based on which the fund will allocate 35 million manats, while the Azerbaijani government will allocate the remaining amount of 75 million manats for the project.
The project of reconstruction and expansion of water and sewage systems of the Khirdalan city is supposed to provide drinking water for the population of the city of more than 190,000 people until 2035. The project also envisages construction of three reservoirs of 60,000 cubic meters, laying water mains length of 178.5 km and installation of counters with the smart card.
Saudi Arabia is one of the first countries to provide active humanitarian assistance to Azerbaijan. From 1994-1999, Saudi Arabia, starting with a program under King Fahd, repeatedly provided humanitarian assistance including food, medicine and other necessities for refugees and IDPs.