OPEC Fund offers 3-year agreement proposal to Turkey and invites Şimşek to Vienna

Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek received a proposal for a 3-year Country Cooperation Strategy and a private sector framework agreement from OPEC International Development Fund Director-General Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, whom he met on the sidelines of COP31, and was also invited to Vienna.

Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek met with Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the OPEC International Development Fund, on the sidelines of COP31 hosted by Turkey in Antalya. During the meeting, Alkhalifa proposed signing a three-year Country Cooperation Strategy with Turkey and concluding a framework agreement to scale up private sector projects. For the signing of the agreements, Minister Şimşek was invited to the OPEC Fund headquarters in Vienna on June 22.

Minister Şimşek stated that cooperation with the OPEC Fund extends over a wide area including healthcare, agriculture, the private sector, and green transition. The support provided by the Fund for the reconstruction of hospitals in the earthquake zone and agricultural enterprises was noted, alongside the importance of resources provided through the Development and Investment Bank of Turkey and the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey. Şimşek emphasized that green and digital transformation is at the center of the structural transformation leg of the economic program.

During the meeting, where railway investments were also discussed, satisfaction was expressed over the OPEC Fund's $250 million participation in the $6.75 billion INRAIL Project, which will be implemented with the co-financing of 7 international financial institutions. Meanwhile, the OPEC Fund had previously provided various financing and credit supports for projects of the Ministry of Health, TKYB, and TSKB.