Press Release

OPEC Fund Governing Board holds 111th Session

67/2005 June 15, 2005, Seefeld, Tyrol, Austria
Press inquiries:

The Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development today convened its 111th Session in Seefeld, Austria.

1. Following adoption of the meeting's agenda, the Director-General of the Fund, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, reporting to the Board on the Fund's activities, indicated that on a cumulative basis, and as of the end of April 2005, US$5,376.4 million had been approved in loans to the public sector and US$3,113.9 million disbursed. These loans, which were extended for project and program financing and balance of payments support, as well as within the framework of the HIPC Initiative, total 978. All major economic and social sectors have benefited from the Fund's assistance, including agriculture, transportation, health, education, water supply and sewerage, industry, energy, etc.
   
   The Director-General further indicated that a total of 69 operations had been approved under the Fund's Private Sector Facility. As of the end of April 2005, cumulative commitments through this window totaled US$353 million.
   
   In addition, the Fund has approved a total of 723 grants in support of various activities in the areas of technical assistance, food aid, emergency relief and research. Cumulative grant commitments, as of the end of April 2005, amounted to US$328.8 million, of which US$226.3 million has been disbursed. Moreover, the Fund has contributed, in grant form, substantial amounts to the resources of other international development institutions benefiting the South; these contributions total US$971.8 million, most of which has been disbursed. To date, the Fund has provided financial assistance to 119 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Europe.



2. In today's session, the Board approved public sector project loans worth more than US$43 million and detailed as follows:
   
   

   Data Summary:

   Country:	Project:	Amount (US$ million)
   Cuba	Havana Electricity Network Rehabilitation	10.00
   Lao PDR	Northern and Central Regions Water Supply and Urban Development	9.00
   Madagascar	Toliara Roads Rehabilitation	7.00
   Mozambique	Matola General Hospital	5.00
   Tanzania	Mbeya Airport	4.62
   Vietnam	Cao Bang Province Road Reconstruction	8.00
   TOTAL		43.62

All of the above loans have a maturity of 20 years, including a grace period of five years, and the majority carries interest at rates ranging from 1% to 1.25%.

The projects will be cofinanced with the governments of the beneficiary countries and with other donors including two OPEC aid institutions – the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and the Social and Economic Development Bank of Venezuela (BANDES). Other contributors include the African Development Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

3. The Board also approved five grants directed at financing activities in the social, health and agriculture sectors. They total US$6.5 million (see press releases no. 68/2005-72/2005) and are described below:


• US$250,000 to provide rehabilitation services for the physically disabled in Nicaragua.
• US$250,000 to help finance the activities of the Pan Arab Project for Family Health.
• US$800,000 to support agricultural research;
• US$4 million for a joint OPEC Fund/UNICEF multiregional project on helping orphans, street children and vulnerable mothers fight HIV/AIDS; to be drawn from the HIV/AIDS Special Grant Account, and
• US$1.2 million to provide assistance to various civil society organizations in Palestine; to be drawn from the Special Grant Account for Palestine.


4. The Board also discussed the Fund's Private Sector Facility: seven new private sector investment proposals were approved, and a number of pipeline proposals were considered.


5. Also in this session: the Board reviewed financial matters; discussed issues arising from the 26th Annual Session of the Ministerial Council; reviewed a report on the staff retirement plan; and looked at public sector operations under active consideration.
6. The Board paid tribute to HE Dr. Saleh Al-Omair, development expert and Governor of Saudi Arabia on the Governing Board, who leaves the body after several years as Member and Board Chairman, as well as Chairman of the Investment Committee (separate press release to follow).

The next Governing Board Session will take place in Vienna, Austria on September 20, 2005.