Saudi Arabia contributes $10 million to AIIB for less developed members – Asia News

The vice president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Danny Alexander, and the general director of the Saudi Fund for Development (FSD), Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, signed an agreement for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to contribute 10 million dollars to the special window of the AIIB for less developed members (SFW).

The SFW is a mechanism to make AIIB loans more affordable for its less developed members by reducing interest rates.

“Serving our least developed members is a key priority for the AIIB,” Alexander said. “The launch of the Special Fund Window constitutes a fundamental milestone in the AIIB’s efforts to make our financing more affordable to its less developed members. “We are grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for being the first contributor to the SFW and look forward to welcoming other donors to join this Fund.”

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Al-Marshad stated: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia appreciates the efforts of the AIIB to help less developed members recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and to contribute to reducing their financing gap for projects in infrastructure and other productive sectors. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our strategic partnership with the AIIB.”

The SFW was approved by the AIIB Board of Directors on March 22, 2022. It will provide a reduction in interest rates to eligible sovereign financing projects that are aligned with the AIIB’s corporate strategy and are identified in accordance with the rigorous AIIB’s usual investment process.

The Saudi Fund for Development (SDF) was created as a government institution to provide support in the form of soft loans to finance development projects in developing countries. As a member of the international development community, the SFD has been supporting least developed countries in financing critical and high-impact projects and programs.