The Saudi Development Fund on Sunday granted Yemen a $50 million loan to finance the construction of a gas-fired power plant in Maareb, SPA news agency reported.
Saudi Finance and National Economy Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, who heads the Fund, and Yemeni Minister of Planning and Development Ahmad Sufan signed the loan agreement in Riyadh. Assaf said the project aims at providing a strategic source of electricity in Yemen to meet soaring demand by the population and industry. He said more than 30 percent of loans provided by the Fund to Yemen were allocated to the power sector.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the two largest countries in the Arabian Peninsula, resolved a decades-old border dispute in June 2000. The border accord was signed during a Jeddah visit by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The two Arab states signed in April a contract worth $986 million with Hansa Luftbild of Germany to demarcate their border. — (AFP, Riyadh)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
