Arab Development Fund dealings in Egypt hit L.E. five billion

Prime Minister Atef Ebeid met Saturday Abdul-Latif al-Hamad, Chairman of the Arab Development Fund, Kuwaiti Minister of Labor Abdul-Wahab al-Wazzan and Rudolph Scharping the Germany Minister of Defense.

Emerging from those meetings, Prime Minister said he briefed the Chairman of the Arab Development Fund on the priorities of the Egyptian government in utilizing investment loans extended by the Development Fund or other Arab funds in development process. The Prime Minister added that these loans are used to finance small-size enterprises to be leased to youth and factories for export-oriented products. Other purposes of financing cover development of education by implementing a national program for modernizing schools, encouraging private sector to establish commercial companies, to use world expertise in drafting the government program for training cadres.

Ebeid said the Fund has advanced a nonrefundable grant worth L.E. 15 million for this purpose. He added the volume of the Arab Development Fund transaction in Egypt hit L.E. 5 billion invested in 35 projects covering the fields of health, education, small and medium scale projects and export development.

He said the Fund offers concessionary loans at an interest rate of 15.3% and a grace period of 3-5 years, adding that 75% of such loans are considered as grants in economic performance terms.

Speaking of his meeting with Kuwaiti Minister of Labor Abdul-Wahab al-Wazzan, he said the Kuwaiti Minister conveyed to him a message from Sheikh Saad al-Abdallah the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Kuwait reiterating keenness by the Kuwaiti government on providing secure conditions for residence of Egyptian labor.

He said he reviewed with Wazzan the starts of the Egyptian labor in Kuwait adding they have agreed on a protocol guaranteeing that the Egyptian labor will travel to Kuwait only under genuine contracts.

Following his meeting with the German Minister of Defense, Ebeid said that Egypt's government was keen on expanding the scope of German cooperation, regarding technical, education development program under Mubarak-Kohl initiative.