Kuwait Fund finances construction of School of Agriculture |18 November 2014

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development is financing the construction of the new School of Agriculture and Horticulture.
 
This is being done through a US $8.5 million loan which the Kuwait Fund is making available to the government of Seychelles.

The loan agreement was signed yesterday morning at the Central Bank between the Minister for Finance, Trade and Investment Pierre Laporte and the deputy director general of the Kuwait Fund Hesham Al-Waqayan.

Also present at the signing ceremony were the principal secretary for Finance Patrick Payet, principal secretary for Economic Policy, Trade and Investment Dr Steve Fanny and the Kuwait Fund regional manager Abdul-Rahman Al-Hashim.

Under the agreement, which also caters for books and equipment, Seychelles is being offered what has been termed as a concessionary loan with favourable repayment terms of within 24 years, with a four- year grace period and an interest rate of two percent.

Part of the funds will go towards projects in favour of primary schools, primarily the rehabilitation of the La Rosière School.

On behalf of the government and people of Seychelles, Minister Laporte thanked the Kuwait Fund for the funding.

He described the agreement as an important facility which reinforces the interest and commitment of the Kuwait Fund in the economic development and well being of Seychelles and its people.

He added that Seychelles has a good track record in executing economic projects and that the loan shows the Kuwait Fund’s confidence in the country’s economy.

On his part Mr Al-Waqayan described the construction of the School of Agriculture and Horticulture as a very important project.

“It is a very important project as we are talking about education. Education is very important in the Millennium Development Goals,” he said.

He promised that his organisation will in the future finance more projects in other sectors such as health.

“We are looking forward to discussing further projects with your government in the future,” he concluded.

The School of Agriculture and Horticulture is supposed to be built on the same site as the existing one at Anse à la Mouche. Construction work is scheduled to be completed by the year 2017.

Since 1985, the Kuwait Fund has been financing infrastructure projects in Seychelles at a total cost of more than US $12 million. It has also offered grants to the Seychelles government amounting to more than US $1.5 million.