Kuwait Fund loans USD 50 mn for airport development project

Kuwait Fund has awarded Maldivian government a loan of USD 50 million (MVR 771 million) for the project to upgrade Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

This is the biggest loan awarded by Kuwait Fund to any country other than a middle eastern country.

The loan agreement was signed in a ceremony held at Ministry of Finance on Tuesday morning.

It was signed on behalf of Maldivian government by Ministry of Finance, Ahmed Munawwar, and on behalf of Kuwait Fund by Deputy Director-General of Kuwait Fund, Hisham I. Al-Waqayan.

Speaking to reporters, Munawwar said that the USD 50 million will be used to develop the terminal, and is required to be repaid within a 20-year period.

He noted that the overall project to upgrade INIA required USD 800 million, and that loan agreements for the majority of the money needed to finance the project had already been signed.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director-General of Kuwait Fund, Al-Waqayan noted that it was the first time the Fund had awarded such a bulky loan to any country other than an Arab country, and expressed commitment towards providing further assistance to Maldives.

Minister of Economic Affairs, Mohamed Saeed – who also participated in the ceremony – said that such a large loan being awarded to Maldives was proof of the country’s economic development and the trust of foreign investors in the economy of the country.

The huge project to upgrade INIA is estimated to be completed by 2018.

Land reclamation and construction of a new runway is going ahead full-swing.