Buenos Aires signed a Financing Agreement with a Kuwait fund for USD 51 M for infrastructure
La construcción de una nueva planta potabilizadora para La Plata, Berisso y Ensenada beneficiará en forma directa a 480.000 usuarios y contará también con cofinanciamiento de CAF y aporte local.
January 29, 2018
The Chief of Cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, Pablo Quirno, and the Ministry of Economy of the Province of Buenos Aires, Hernán Lacunza, signed together with the Deputy Director General for Investment of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Ghanem Sulaiman Al-Ghenaiman, a financing agreement for 51 million dollars aimed at the construction of a water treatment plant in the City of La Plata.
In this sense, Quirno highlighted: “With the execution of this agreement we continue developing the potential modernization of our infrastructure, crucial in a Province such as Buenos Aires, and improving the living conditions of the population”.
The subscription of the loan for the “Water Provision in La Plata Project, Construction of a Water Treatment Plant” was also attended by the Undersecretary of International Financial Relations, Martín Soto. It was negotiated under a co-funding scheme with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).
The project will be financed with USD 51 million contributed by the FKAED (with an interest rate of 2.5%, a 24-year term and a 4-year grace period), USD 119 million by the CAF and USD 41.65 million of local contribution.
The new water treatment plant will improve the provision of potable water for the City of Buenos Aires, Berisso and Ensenada, through the construction of a new water treatment system in addition to the existing one. This way, the project will extend the water provision capacity from 2,500 to 10,000 m3/h, directly benefitting 480,000 users and improving the quality of the water by reducing nitrate levels.
The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development is the first Middle Eastern institution to have an active role in international development by extending the lending terms to finance projects. In addition, it provides technical assistance to finance the costs of feasibility studies for projects as well as training.
The event was also attended by the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the KFAED, Abdullah Al-Musaibeeh; the National Director of Bilateral External Financing Projects, Matías Mana; the Undersecretary of Financing of the Province of Buenos Aires, Sebastián Katz; the Provincial Director of Multilateral Organizations and Bilateral Financing, Julián Amendolaggine; the National Director of Bilateral Economic Negotiations, Daniel Polski; the Argentine Ambassador in Kuwait, Jorge Biga; and the Director of Bilateral Economic Negotiations with Africa and Middle East, Patricia Fabro.