Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
The Yemeni government and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) signed on Saturday a bilateral agreement for financial arrangements, the resumption of Kuwaiti development projects, and the rescheduling of outstanding arrears owed to the Fund.
According to the official Yemeni news agency, Saba, the agreement was signed by the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Dr. Wa’ed Batheeb, on behalf of the Yemeni government, and by the Acting Director General of the KFAED, Engineer Walid Shamlan Al-Bahr, on behalf of the Fund.
The agreement aims to relaunch Kuwaiti funding for development programs and alleviate the debt burden on Yemen by rescheduling the repayment of overdue interest and installments. This will help the government face the emergency economic and financial burdens exacerbated by the Houthi attacks on oil installations and international shipping lines.
According to the agency, the agreement represents an important message regarding the special nature of Yemeni-Kuwaiti relations, the improvement of trust between state institutions and the Yemeni government with the donor community, and the urgent response to the priorities and needs of the Yemeni people in vital areas.
The funding includes a number of service and development sectors, foremost of which are electricity and energy, education, and public works.
During the signing, the Director General of the Kuwait Fund affirmed the Fund’s keenness to implement the supreme Emiri directives to respond to the needs of the Yemeni people and the priorities of their government.
The Kuwaiti official expressed his hope that the signing of the agreement would contribute to improving living conditions and basic services throughout Yemen.
For his part, the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Wa’ed Batheeb, praised this achievement for the benefit of the Yemeni people, and the restoration of the momentum of Kuwaiti funding and its valued interventions in various sectors.
