UAE offers aid to Egypt

After a directive by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE, an aid package of US$3 billion has been allocated for Egypt. Egypt's economy was hit hard by the uprising as revenue from tourism, worker remittances and foreign investment plunged. The announcement of the aid came during a meeting in Abu Dhabi today between Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and Minister of Presidential Affairs and the Egyptian Prime Minister, Dr Essam Sharaf. A US$1.5bn fund, the Khalifa bin Zayed Fund for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, will be established in Egypt with the objective of providing business and job opportunities to a broad range of Egyptian youth. Sheikh Khalifa also directed the allocation of $750 million as a grant to develop housing and infrastructure projects for the schemes to be created under the fund and another $750m as concessionary loans for various home industry projects. Sheikh Mansour offered his thanks and said that Sheikh Khalifa’s directives emanated from the deep-rooted fraternal ties between the UAE and Egypt, two brotherly nations.