KUWAIT (KUNA) – Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development signed in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on Wednesday a loan agreement, worth 4,420,000 Kuwaiti Dinars (KWD, ≈ US $15 million), to finance rehabilitation of the second section of the main Bishkek-Naryan-Torugart road, according to a KFAED statement.

Kuwait Fund Activities 2011 (French & Spanish, PDF)

The loan agreement was signed by Melis Mambetjanov, the Minister of Finance, on behalf of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Hamad S. Al-Omar, Deputy Director-General of KAFED. The venture aims to meet the increasing demand for the transport of passengers and goods in the northern- southern corridor linking the capital city, Bishkek, with Torugart at the Border with Republic of China.

The project will also contribute to the economic and social development of the middle and southern regions of the country, reduce travelling time and vehicles operating cost. It involves the renovation of the second section of Dolon Pass–Kyzyl-Bel Pass road of the Bishkek- Naryan-Torugart Corridor with a length of about 93 km.

The signing of this loan brings to three the number of loans extended by Kuwait Fund to The Kyrgyz Republic, where the fund previously provided two loans totalling about KWD 5.69 million, some $16.7 million, to participate in the financing of projects in the telecommunication and power sectors of the economy.

KAFED also extended to the Kyrgyz Republic one technical assistance grant, the total value of which is KWD 93.6 thousand (≈ $320,000) for financing feasibility studies in the telecom sector.

The object of KFAED is to assist Arab and other developing countries in developing their economies. Its types of activities are:

• Making loans and providing guarantees;
• Making Grants by way of technical assistance and providing other types of technical assistance;
• Contributing to capital stocks of international and regional development finance institutions and other development institutions and representing the State of Kuwait in such institutions.

The Fund’s operations are focused primarily on the sectors of agriculture and irrigation, transport and communications, energy, industry, water and sewage.