LOC19:58
16:58 GMT
Director-General of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Mr. Abdulwahab Al-Bader and Jordan's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Dr. Ibrahim Saif During signing two agreements
(With photos)
AMMAN, May 5 (KUNA) -- The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, on
behalf of the Kuwaiti government, signed Sunday two agreements with the
Jordanian government to finance two development projects worth a total USD 215
million.
The two agreements were signed by Jordan's Minister of Planning and
International Cooperation and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Dr. Ibrahim
Saif and Director-General of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED)
Mr. Abdulwahab Ahmed Al-Bader on behalf of the fund.
Also attending the signing ceremony was Kuwait Ambassador to Amman Dr.
Hamad Al-Duaij and several senior Jordanian officials.
"The grant comes within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council
resolution in 2011 summit to support development projects in Jordan with USD 5
billion over five-year period," Al-Bader told KUNA. "By these agreements,
Kuwait has completed the payment of USD 1.170 billion of its share in the GCC
grant to Jordan, estimated at USD 1.250 billion."
The remaining USD 80 million will be used to finance railway projects in
Jordan, he added.
As per the GCC resolution, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar should pay USD 1.25bn to help the Jordanian
government meet its growing financial predicaments.
The Kuwaiti government has assigned the KFAED to sign agreements of the
grants with the Jordanian government.
For his part, the Jordanian minister thanked the Kuwaiti leadership and
people for their support through financing a considerable measure of
developments accross varied sectors. The current grant will finance a wind
farm generation project in Maan District and a new liquefied national gas
(LNG) port in Aqaba.
The wind farm generation project aims to meet the future demand on
electricity and to reduce dependence on the use of imported fossil fuels - a
source of carbon dioxide and acid rain emissions.
The project consists of the construction of a wind farm with a total
installed capacity of about 65MW with all its ancillaries, including about 30
generation wind turbines with a 2-3MW capacity, the installation of a step up
sub-station (0.69/33/132) KV, some 8km of 132 OHL transmission lines, the
expansion of the Maan main sub-station and the construction of about 14km of
access roads. The project also includes the necessary consultancy services
required for the preparatory works, pre-qualification of contractors and
project supervision.
The total cost of the project is estimated at about JD 106 million (KD 44
million). The grant covers 100 percent of the total cost of the project.
The LNG port project is meant to support the Jordanian economy and its
strategic goals in alleviating the current energy crisis. This is through the
import of liquefied natural gas as a supplementary source to satisfy the
current and future demand on natural gas, and guarantee a continuous flow of
gas in the event of the interruption of other sources, with competitive prices
to assist in reducing the cost of electricity production. It also aims to
develop the logistics capabilities of the Aqaba Economic Zone.
The project consists of the construction and equipping of a new LNG port in
Aqaba with an operational throughput of 490 million cubic feet per day and a
maximum throughput of 790 MMcfd. It also includes the marine infrastructure
for berthing and mooring the floating storage and Regasification unit (FSRU),
and the LNG carriers, and a loading platform with the related equipment for
handling and controlling the gas flow and the connection to the main gas
pipeline supplying the Kingdom.
The project also includes the consultancy services for investigation,
design and supervision of construction. The project started in September 2012,
and the port is scheduled to receive the first LNG shipment by the last
quarter of 2014.
The total cost of the port is estimated at about USD 65 million, whereas
the Kuwait government grant covers 100 percent of the total cost of the
project.
In addition to Kuwait's share of the GCC grant, the KFAED has offered a
number of loans to Jordan over the past years, which amount to 26 worth a
total of about KD 172 million, or USD 584 million, to finance projects in
various sectors, in addition to 6 grants and technical assistance totaling
about KD 3.1 million, or about USD 10.9 million to finance the preparation of
the technical and feasibility studies for a number of economic projects. (end)
ab.ibi
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