The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) signed three concessional loan agreements with the Egyptian Government. The agreements were signed on Monday 3rd 2012, in Cairo, by the Egyptian Minster of Planning and International Cooperation, Dr. Ashraf Al-Araby, and SFD Vice President and Managing Director, Eng. Yousef Al-Bassam. As per the first agreement, SFD grants Egypt SAR 337.5 million, or EGP 547 million, in a concessional development loan that aims to enhance the food security in Egypt by building new horizontal silos. The SDF-financed project will build by an additional number of horizontal silos, in order to enhance the overall seed storage capacities and minimize the storage losses. The second soft loan, which amounts to SAR 300 million or EGP 486 million, will contribute to enhancing the irrigation and drainage sector by installing new irrigation and sanitary drainage plants. The project will also finance the procurement and installation of new electric pumps and turbines in the newly established water plants, in order to help create a balance between the available water resources and the demand on irrigation and drainage facilities. Under the third agreement, SFD will also allocate SAR 225 million, or EGP 365 million, to fund a drinking water project in the Cairo district of Nasr City. The project aims to develop the efficiency of the drinking water grid in Nasr City, to enable it to meet the increasing demand on drinking water. The 2 SFD-funded projects are expected to further enhance the economic and social development in Egypt, and improve the living conditions of its citizens. By virtue of the three agreement, the total funds allocated by SFD to Egyptian projects exceeds SAR 5 billion, or EGP 8 billion, which clearly reflects the depth of the bilateral ties at the official and popular levels.
