OFID Sister Institutions

The tradition of providing flexible, untied and highly concessional assistance has been practiced by the wider family of OPEC aid institutions for over three decades. Bilateral aid began in 1961 with the establishment of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. Six other OPEC countries- the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Libya and the Islamic Republic of Iran- soon followed suit. The joint move into multilateral development financing came in the early 1970s when OPEC member states, acting in partnership, decided to pool resources and coordinate activities in pursuit of greater effectiveness and relevance in the field of development assistance delivery.

Since then, OPEC member countries have maintained their contribution, continuing to allocate part of their budgets to development assistance efforts, even in the face of severe adverse economic and financial circumstances. This unbroken assistance is inspired by the shared objective and principles of the OPEC aid family: to respond to the situation of pressing needs and limited resources experienced by many non-OPEC developing countries as an expression of South-South solidarity, friendship and mutual support.

Over the years, OPEC aid has taken diversified and innovative forms, including loans, grants and equity participation, in an attempt to maximize the impact of the assistance delivered and meet the changing needs and priorities of the beneficiary countries.

This section gives an overview of OPEC aid institutions, other than OFID, and describes their philosophies, objectives and activities. It is divided into three parts. For more information, click on one of the categories below.

Multilateral Institutions Bilateral Institutions Trust Funds

Additional information, if desired, may be obtained directly from the relevant agencies.