Muscat: Oman signed an agreement estimated at $1.75 billion (Dh11.25 billion) with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development on Wednesday as part of the GCC’s pledge to provide $20 billion in financial aid to Bahrain and Oman.
The grant will be allocated to fund part of the cost of the Batinah Expressway Road project, which will be deducted from the total grant of the State of Kuwait, amounting to $2 billion.
Gulf states pledged to support Bahrain and Oman, the two countries in the bloc that are not as oil-and-gas rich as the other members, after Arab Spring-related protests in those countries in 2011 threatened their stability.
In Oman, the aid will be utilised also in the railway project, electric and water networks, and the provision of infrastructure at Duqm Special Economic Zone and other industrial estates.
Economic experts believe that such aid will help strengthen the country’s economy, trade and the movement of GCC nationals.
The total cost of the Batinah Expressway project estimated at one billion Omani riyals (Dh9.54 billion), which will contribute in supporting the economic and social development in the sultanate to keep pace with the growing demand for transport. it will be completed by 2018. Meanwhile, Sohar Airport will be opened on November 18, Oman’s national day, according to a statement of the Ministry of Transport and Communication. The ministry said that Sohar Airport will become another new destination for logistics and commercial sectors in the Gulf and the world.
