Two agreements to be signed with Saudi Fund today

The government of Maldives will be signing two agreements with the Saudi Fund for Development today: the first of these is the agreement for a loan for developing the new terminal of the Velana International Airport, and the second is the leasing of land for the building 400 housing units in Hulhumale' which will be leased at affordable rates.

The agreements will be signed by CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Marshad who is currently visiting the Maldives.

This is the second loan being granted by Saudi Fund for the development of the new terminal at Velana International Airport (VIA).

In a previous visit last May, Marshad signed an agreement to extend a loan of USD 100 million (MVR 1.5 billion) for the VIA project.

The affordable 400 housing units being built with Saudi Fund loan aid will be located in Hulhumale'. It has been reported that HDC will be allocating land for this project today.

The government has not yet disclosed the amounts included in the loan agreements which are to be signed today.

The government aims to complete construction of VIA's new terminal within the year. Once completed, the terminal will have the capacity to serve seven million passengers annually.

In his earlier visit, Marshad stated that it is a pleasure of Saudi Fund to extend assistance towards VIA, health sector, housing and other infrastructure projects.

He noted that the Saudi Fund has extended aid for development of VIA previously as well, such as in 1978, 1981, 1992, 1999 and 2016.