ISLAMABAD: The Pak-Kuwait signed a loan agreement of $32 million for Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project. Kuwait has already been co-financing this project with an amount of $42 million.
Secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD), Saleem Sethi and Dy DG Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFED), Hamad Al-Omar signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Kuwait Ambassador Nawaf Abdul Aziz Alenezi witnessed the ceremony.
The project with 969 MW generation capacity, has a total cost of Rs274 billion with a planned foreign funding of $1,585 million. In this regard $1,110 million have been committed by various donors including IDB, Saudi Fund, OPEC Fund, Kuwait Fund and China Exim Bank.
Ishaq Dar in his brief remarks on the occasion welcomed signing of the agreement, saying it was another chapter added to Pak-Kuwait economic cooperation. On behalf of the prime minister, Dar thanked the leadership and people of Kuwait for their continued support to Pakistan. Hamad Al-Omar on this occasion said he was pleased to sign the agreement and that Kuwait would keep extending support for development projects in Pakistan.