RIYADH, 9 February 2004 — The OPEC Fund for International Development, 35 percent of whose financial resources are contributed by Saudi Arabia, has committed more than $7 billion to development assistance. The majority of this financing has been delivered in easy public sector loans to a number of poor countries, according to Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, the newly-appointed Director-General of the 12-member OPEC Fund.

Al-Herbish, who recently assumed the charge of director-general of the Fund in Vienna, said, “The Saudi government has been deeply committed to the OPEC Fund and the OPEC organization for the benefit of oil producers and consumers while at the same time desiring to help poor developing nations. In fact, Saudi Arabia has played a major role in creating the OPEC Fund besides being a co-founder of OPEC.”

Al-Herbish has 42 years experience, primarily in the oil sector. He explained, “We are currently working on the 16th lending program of the OPEC Fund which will be executed in 2005, 2006 and 2007 after formal approval from the governing board of the Fund. This program, once in effect, will ensure millions of dollars of financial support to a large number of developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.”

When asked about his recent meeting with Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, Al-Herbish said, “The crown prince has renewed his support for the OPEC Fund, wishing it to continue fulfilling its responsibilities successfully.” He hastened to add that all member countries of the OPEC Fund have been equally supportive of initiatives undertaken by the organization. The OPEC Fund signed agreements worth over $74 million last week in support of various projects in poor countries. These projects will be implemented in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Azerbaijan, Mozambique, Botswana, Ghana, Cape Verde, Lesotho, Yemen, Tunisia and Swaziland. One of the projects is a $6.7 million loan agreement to finance the construction of a 100-bed hospital in Cameroon; another $6 million credit facility is for a road project in Azerbaijan and another $3 million to Mozambique for debt relief.

Referring to financial assistance made available to Palestinians, Al-Herbish pointed out, “Since its founding in 1976, the OPEC Fund has been keen to maintain a certain level of grant assistance to project/program operations benefiting the Palestinian people. Despite the limited resources of our grant program, a total amount of $25.7 million has already been extended by the OPEC Fund in support of over 80 projects for Palestinians.” Asked about grants made available by the OPEC Fund to its member states, he said, “Although member countries are not eligible for assistance, the Fund may extend emergency grants in case of natural disasters. Iran and Algeria are examples of countries that have benefited from this.”

The OPEC fund has also extended five grants totaling $950,000 to Afghanistan with the first four operations in the form of humanitarian aid in support of aid efforts. The fifth grant was approved recently to co-finance a major agricultural development and sustainable resource management program in Afghanistan.