Press Release

OFID and the Islamic Development Bank sign financing agreement for Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan

03/2009 January 20, 2009 Kuwait City, Kuwait
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On the sidelines of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Kuwait, the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) signed, January 19, a Mudharaba agreement on a project to upgrade facilities at the Queen Alia International Airport in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, Director-General of OFID, and Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani , President of the Islamic Development Bank Group.

The project is expected to be completed by 2011. In addition to upgrading existing facilities, a new terminal will also be built to create additional capacity of 12 million passengers annually.

At the signature ceremony, Dr. Al-Madani expressed appreciation for OFID’s support of the project, stating that “this agreement exemplifies OFID’s strong commitment to its mandate.” Mr. Al-Herbish noted the importance of the project and commented that it was a pleasure for OFID to cooperate with the IsDB in the private sector. He expressed the hope that, in the future, such cooperation could be further enhanced.

Mr. Al-Herbish said upgrade of facilities at Queen Alia International Airport was of great importance to economic development, involving, as it does, improvements to transportation linkages and employment creation. Mr. Al-Herbish declared that the project will also act as a major boost to the tourism sector in Jordan, which is vital for the country’s foreign exchange earnings. ” He further noted the relevance of the project to the agenda of the Arab summit in support of the promotion of the private sector and the development of private-public partnerships for the development of infrastructure.

Queen Alia International Airport is the first private sector project OFID is undertaking in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. OFID has several ongoing projects within its public sector operations. Jordan has also benefited from OFID direct and regional grants.

Arabic version