ABU DHABI - Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, ADFD, yesterday conducted a lecture in the Al Bateen Majlis, titled, "Pioneering and Sustainable Development," which was organised by the Majlis Affairs Office at the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court, with the attendance of several officials and UAE nationals.

Al Suwaidi began the lecture by thanking the wise leadership under President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for their directives and diligent efforts to achieve the countrys sustainable development goals.

"We cannot speak about the ADFD and its accomplishments over 47 years without mentioning the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who realised the importance of establishing the fund, to assist friendly peoples and countries and help achieve sustainable development," Al Suwaidi said.

Al Suwaidi added that the ADFD was established in 1971 as a developmental financial institution that aims to assist developing countries to achieve sustainable economic development. The Fund has been contributing since its establishment to introducing positive changes and ensuring sustainable development across a large number of developing countries, he further added.

He explained that the Funds activities are divided into two main sections: developmental funding and investment activities, noting that ADFD has financed and managed thousands of developmental projects in 88 countries, valued at over AED81 billion.

Al Suwaidi also noted several examples of the Funds key strategic projects, which include a project to expand the Bahrain International Airport, which was provided with around AED3.3 billion by the fund, noting that the project is one of the ADFDs major projects in the region.

The ADFD also provided AED1.1 billion to fund a project to restore the Tangier Port in Morocco, which created over 55,000 job opportunities.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2019.