VIENNA (OPEC press service) – Supplementary Loan Agreement on Dangara General Hospital Project was signed in Vienna between the Government of Tajikistan and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).

Sattorov Imomudin with OFID Director-General Suleiman J. Al-Herbish
(Photo: courtesy of OFID)

On December 14, 2012, OFID signed a US$2.8 million loan agreement with Tajikistan to co-finance the Dangara General Hospital Project (supplementary loan). The agreement was signed by OFID Director-General Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish and Sattorov Imomudin (ستاروف امام الدین), Ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan to Germany. The loan will help fund the completion of a new, fully equipped, 115-bed hospital, with the aim to provide adequate health services to the 2.3 million-strong population of Khatlon and its neighbouring regions. OFID also co-financed the initial phase of the project with a US $8.5 mln loan.

OFID and Tajikistan have been partners in development since 1997, when a public sector loan was approved to help finance rehabilitation of two cardiovascular centres in the capital Dushanbe. Subsequent loans helped modernize and rehabilitate roads and enhance the production capacity of a textbook printing facility, as well as strengthen the country’s energy sector. Grants have also been extended that helped improve education facilities and provide vocational training in remote, disadvantaged communities and rehabilitate a water supply and sanitation system. Tajikistan has also benefited from regional grants that supported HIV AIDS programs and agriculture schemes.

Established by the member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1976, the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), with headquarters in Vienna, is a multilateral development finance institution. Its objective is to reinforce financial cooperation between OPEC member nations and other developing countries, by providing financial support to the latter for their socioeconomic development. The resources of OFID are also used to provide grants for food aid, technical assistance, research and similar intellectual activities. OFID’s resources consist of voluntary contributions made by OPEC member nations and the accumulated reserves derived from the institution’s various operations.