Brand new city in heart of Bahrain thanks to 2.9bn AED Abu Dhabi Development Fund Grant

Wednesday 24 August 2016

Abu Dhabi - MENA Herald: Bahrain’s housing shortage due to its growing population and economic boom is soon to come to an end thanks to a 374m AED grant from Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the UAE’s international development arm (ADFD). The grant, formalised in a signing contracts in Bahrain, enables the beginning of the construction of North City (Al Madina Al Shamliya) for infrastructure services to support the building of the island.
The latest funding agreement will enable the preparation for the land reclamation to get underway and the beginning of the island construction itself, with this Phase 1 being worth 374m AED. This will quickly be followed by the start of Phase 2 on the islands themselves with 2.56bn AED of the grant going into this aspect of the project for the building of the initial 2,694 houses. Upon completion of the project the new city will be the heart of a new Bahrain and will be made up of a new set of inter-linked man-made islands and will be representing a major step forward in the city state’s development.

His Excellency Eng. Basim Bin Yacob Al Hamer, Minister of Housing from Bahrain welcomed the grant stating, ‘The UAE is a committed friend and partner in our ambitious development efforts and today’s agreements are another step forward in this partnership. We are hugely appreciative of this funding which will help us alieve some of our chronic housing shortages here in Bahrain with the North City project part of a much broader plan to build 40,000 new homes for our people. I hope that such economic and social development, such as with our new airport, will be a catalyst for national and regional growth.’
Commenting on the event, His Excellency Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), said: ‘Abu Dhabi Fund for Development is committed to building the infrastructure of our partner countries and ensuring they have the foundations for socio-economic growth as this is our guiding principle to development. The North City project is an important project which will be an economic boost to Bahrain through new construction and opportunities as well as easing urgent overcrowding issues. This grant is part of our wider commitment to the government and people of Bahrain as the country continues to rapidly grow and confront new development opportunities and challenges and we look forward to seeing this scheme come to fruition.’
The project is being funded by the AED9.19 billion (US$2.5 billion) grant provided by the UAE to Bahrain in 2013 as part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) development programme for Bahrain. Administered by ADFD, the grant aims to support development projects in the Kingdom over the 10 years.
Under the grant provided by the UAE to Bahrain, ADFD also manages development projects across key economic sectors including housing, water, health, and transportation.

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