Press Release

OFID TO SCALE UP ASSISTANCE DELIVERY, 2008-2010
Director-General addresses international press conference

33/2007 November 22, 2007 Vienna, Austria
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The Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Mr. Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, says the institution proposes to gradually scale up its level of commitments with the inception, January 2008, of its 17th Lending Program. Along with the lending program and including other windows, OFID plans to deliver a total US$3.0 billion over three years in support of social and economic advancement in (non-OPEC) developing countries. Mr. Al-Herbish was addressing an international press conference, Saturday, November 17, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the sidelines of the Third OPEC Summit of Sovereigns and Heads of State and Government.

Said Mr. Al-Herbish: Conscious of growing needs in many developing countries, OFID is opening new financing windows and deploying new products. Mr. Al-Herbish told the capacity press conference that sustainable development remained an overarching concern to developing countries; that OFID was working, along with sister institutions, to promote sustainable development, which should go a long way toward battling hunger and poverty. He assured an African correspondent that OFID was doing what it could to assist the poorer African countries, given OFID’s priority focus on the world’s least developed countries, most of which are located in Africa.

Mr. Al-Herbish briefly outlined the criteria for obtaining project and program and research assistance from OFID and explained that the institution placed no project-unrelated “conditionalities” on borrowers. OFID also responded to the choices and priorities of cooperating countries, placing greater store on co-financing and on partnerships. The Director-General said OFID was usually a partner-of-choice for many countries and institutions; OFID was currently present in more than 120 countries, worldwide, building infrastructure, utilities, industry and much else. The institution was also involved with the private sector and in trade financing.

On the 47-year endeavors of OPEC to stabilize the energy market, provide adequate supplies of crude oil to consumers and help constrain prices, Mr. Al-Herbish said the Third OPEC Summit has mapped out a strategic direction for the oil exporting group and reassured the rest of the world on the issues of providing petroleum; promoting prosperity; and protecting the environment.

Fielding multiple questions in Arabic and English, the OFID Director-General told the represented media (local and international) that hunger, deprivation and poverty were the primary concerns of OFID; and that all efforts in the institution led to combating these scourges of humankind. Yet another question related to the Riyadh Summit events, such as the Ministerial Symposium; the Tour of Opinion Leaders; the International Oil exhibition; and the Awards Ceremony, to which the Director-General responded that he was encouraged by so many references to OFID. He was also appreciative of the acknowledgment of the work of the institution by many speakers at the Symposium.

Addressing climate-change related questions, the OFID Director-General said his institution welcomed endeavors to find new, renewable sources of energy. He said the environment was of great concern to the entire world, including OPEC Member Countries, clearly. As responsible members of the global community, OPEC Member States were equally engaged in seeking to preserve the environmental commons, combat global warming and contain the threat of greenhouse gasses. Nevertheless, Mr. Al-Herbish warned, the international community must be careful with the choice between feeding the hungry and using plants and food crops, such as corn, to create fuel. He said OFID was of the opinion that “hunger, human misery and poverty remained the greatest tragedies confronting our world, and nothing should be done to diminish their priority placement on the international agenda.” Poverty, Mr. Al-Herbish added, is the “biggest environmental tragedy to date,” as opined at the Second OPEC Summit 2000 in Caracas, Venezuela. Seven years on, this view is unchanged. Mr. Al-Herbish told a Financial Times correspondent that OFID made sure that its projects and programs around the world were environmentally sound.

The Director-General was finally asked about the actual contributions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the resources of OFID. He explained that the Kingdom supported OFID in many ways and had, in any case, played a vital role in the establishment of the institution. In response to a related question, Mr. Al-Herbish expressed gratitude, on behalf of OFID, to the Summit Organizing Committee, which, he said, had performed a marvellous job. Much praise, Mr. Al-Herbish added, should go to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. And OFID would like to place on record, as well, its appreciation of the hospitality and assistance extended to the OFID delegation to the Summit by the people and government of the Kingdom.