The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has signed in Oman three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the Omani Ministry of Finance to finance several projects with a value of around USD 244 million following directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and in response to efforts to enhance joint cooperation and exchange of expertise between the two countries. The memorandums were signed by SFD CEO Sultan bin Abdul Rahman Al-Marshad and Omani Minister of Finance Sultan bin Salem Al-Habsi. The first memorandum aims at supporting small and medium enterprises through providing funds to support the loan portfolio for soft loans in various sectors with a total of around USD 150 million, where part of this finance will be directed to establish small and medium enterprises in governorates so as to benefit from the comparative advantage and the development of every governorate, in addition to boosting the benefits of establishing and funding expansions for existing projects of small and medium Omani institutions in a way that guarantees the contribution of the private sector in supporting and accommodating jobseekers. The other two memorandums seek to contribute to financing projects of developing the basic infrastructure in the Special Economic Zone in Duqm. The Omani Minister of Finance welcomed the signing of the memorandums with SFD, noting that these agreements are a result of historical relations and close partnership between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman and the vision of both countries' leaderships, where they will contribute to opening cooperation aspects at several levels, including supporting entrepreneurship and developing the basic infrastructure, in addition to developing economic projects. For his part, Al-Marshad stressed that the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through SFD contributions to sign these memorandums, aim at enhancing cooperation between the two countries and out of the effective role of the fund in supporting social and economic development courses in developing countries.
