Manama: Kuwait on Thursday pledged to contribute $50 million to the World Bank-administered multi-donor Trust Fund to support the Palestinian Reform and Development Programme (PRDP).

The agreement was signed by Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the World Bank (WB) Managing Director, and Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah, Kuwait's ambassador in Washington.

The amount is in addition to the $130 million that Kuwait provided to the PRDP trust fund in 2008 and 2010, Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported.

Urgent budget needs

The resources will help support the urgent budget needs of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), providing inter alia support for education, healthcare and other vital social services for the Palestinian people and for the economic reforms currently underway.

"The Trust Fund is central in supporting the Palestinian reform and development plan, a catalyst for economic growth," Indrawati said. "We are grateful to the State of Kuwait for their contribution. The World Bank's involvement in supporting and monitoring the reform effort will strengthen the PNA's capacity to quickly enact reforms and to support the Palestinian people in their quest for a better future."

Progress

In a statement to Kuna, Shaikh Salem reiterated Kuwait's support for the PNA, highlighted the importance of the reform programme and praised the level of progress made.

"The budget support is crucial at this juncture of time and the PNA should be able to preserve and carry on with its institution-building and delivery of better public services," he said.

The ambassador said that Kuwaiti-Palestinian relations were "special and historic and that the Palestinian issue will always remain a priority for the Kuwaiti leadership, government and people, especially that the Kuwaiti moral and financial support to the Palestinian people has been constant."

Agreement

The PRDP Trust Fund was established in April 2008 when an agreement was signed between the WB and the PA during the 2008 WB-IMF Spring Meetings in the WB's headquarters.

The governments of Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Norway, Poland, and the UK have already contributed to this Fund.

With the new contribution from Kuwait, the trust fund will reach $706 million, of which approximately $657 million have already been disbursed.

In addition, the WB has contributed $120 million of its own resources, through two Development Policy Grants, to support the budget of the PNA.