Saudi finance minister heads Saudi delegation at OPEC development fund meeting

Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan headed the Saudi delegation that participated in the annual ministerial meeting of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) in Vienna on Thursday.

The meeting agenda included discussion of OFID’s annual report for last year, approval of financial statements for the fiscal year 2018, the lending program to be granted by the fund in 2020, and OFID’s new strategy for financial sustainability.

OFID Director General Dr. Abdulhamid Al-Khalifa said: “OFID’s vision is to be a relevant, agile and efficient development finance institution that can deliver maximum development impact to its partner countries, while becoming self-sustainable in financing its operations.”

Saudi Arabia is the largest stakeholder in the fund, which was established in 1976 with the aim of promoting cooperation among member states to help poor countries increase their economic and social growth.

OFID provides concessional financing in the form of loans to support infrastructure and social projects, and to enhance productivity by focusing on projects that meet developing countries’ basic needs such as food, energy, health care and education. 

It also contributes to the provision of financing for private sector projects and trade finance.