ABU DHABI,Nov 14 (WAM) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and the Colombian Presidential Agency of International Cooperation, APC-Colombia, yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding which stipulates that the ADFD will offer AED165 million, or US$45 million, as a grant from the Abu Dhabi Government to fund various development projects and programmes in Colombia.

The MoU was signed by Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the ADFD, and Sergio Alfonso Londoño Zurek, Director-General of APC-Colombia.

Al Suwaidi stated that the MoU is part of the directives from the UAE's wise leadership to fund development programmes in several Colombian departments while adding that the ADFD will manage the development grant offered by the Abu Dhabi Government, to help Colombia overcome its economic challenges, through funding vital social and sustainable development projects.

These projects include establishing early childhood, education and health centres, as well as supporting small and medium projects in several Colombian departments, to provide work opportunities for local community members and improve their living conditions, he further added.

Zurek praised the role of the UAE and its wise leadership in supporting, through the ADFD, many of the world's countries to help achieve their sustainable development goals.

He added that the grant from the Abu Dhabi Government will have a significant role in developing and improving many social and economic services in Colombia, especially in sectors that are directly related to improving and developing an individual's capacities, such as education and health, and rehabilitate certain sectors to provide work opportunities.

He also highlighted the importance of co-operation in the future with the ADFD in the field of development work and funding projects that have a positive effect on local communities and support vital sectors, especially as Colombia aspires to enter a new stage of economic growth.

The ADFD aims, as part of its development strategy, to expand the geographic range of its operations to include all developing countries, including in Latin America and the Caribbean. It recently funded several development projects in Argentina, Cuba and Ecuador, as well as renewable energy projects in the Caribbean. (WAM) (END/2017)

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