Saudi Development Fund signs $53.33m agreement to support Oman SMEs

RIYADH: Small businesses in Oman are set to benefit from a $53.33 million finance agreement signed by the country’s development bank and the Saudi Fund for Development.

The funding is part of a larger $150 million support program for Oman provided by the Kingdom through the SFD, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

The agreement was signed by the co-chairs of the Saudi-Omani joint committee, with Saeed Al-Qahtani from the SFD, and Zahir Al-Abri and Acting CEO of the Oman Development Bank Hamad Al Harthy representing the Omani side.

The deal aims to support the initiatives of the bank in the financing activities of small and medium enterprises, enhance social and economic growth, and create jobs in various states and governorates of Oman. 

The agreement is the latest by the SFD, which has been contributing to developmental projects across the globe since its inception in 1974.

In August, the organization laid the foundation stone to mark the beginning of the construction of the Mangoky Bridge in Madagascar.

The SFD contributed $20 million as a soft loan to the project, which is expected to reduce the travel time between  the Atsimo-Andrefana and Menabe regions, home to the island nation’s most vital agricultural and tourism assets. 

Also in August, the fund inaugurated the King Abdullah Campus of Azad Jammu and Kashmir University in Pakistan by allocating a grant of $90 million for the project.

More than 10,000 students, faculty members, and employees are expected to benefit from the new facility, which aims to provide research opportunities and contribute to the sustainable socio-economic development of Pakistan.

The project was inaugurated by the Saudi Fund for Development’s director general of Asia operations, Saud bin Ayed Al-Shammari, who was also accompanied by AJK President Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry.

Other recent initiatives from the SFD include six loans to finance development projects in Madagascar worth $69 million.

In January, the fund signed a deal with Pakistan’s Economic Affairs Ministry to finance oil derivatives amounting to $1 billion. 

In the same month, the SFD also forayed into Caribbean countries by signing an $80 million financing agreement for the University of the West Indies expansion project at Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda. 

The financing deal aimed to reach sustainable development goals in the Caribbean, promote scientific innovation and add additional educational facilities to the university.