An agreement worth BD17.45 million has been signed to provide medical devices for the academic hospital at King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Medical City in Bahrain.
The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) signed the grant deal equivalent to SR173.7 million ($46.3 million) with the Arabian Gulf University (AGU), marking another step towards enhancing healthcare facilities in the region.
The agreement was signed by SFD chief executive Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad and AGU acting president Dr Abdurrahman bin Youssef Ismail. Saudi Arabia’s deputy ambassador to Manama, Saleh bin Falah Al-Otaibi, attended the signing ceremony.
The project is part of a larger grant provided by Saudi Arabia to fund the construction of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Medical City, a significant investment in the healthcare sector in Bahrain. The BD100 million medical city will consist of a 288- bed medical centre, 74 clinics, 17 operating theatres, a modern laboratory, a radiology centre, an emergency helicopter pad, and a physiotherapy centre. It is designed to host the country’s first robotic surgery center as well as Bahrain’s second stem cell treatment centre.
It will also include a number of research and excellence centres as well as a college of medicine, making it a comprehensive centre for medical education and medical services that would offer its services to patients from Bahrain and neighbouring GCC states.
The hi-tech university hospital is being set up on a one million-squaremetre plot donated by His Majesty King Hamad. In 2020, Al Fouzan Trading and General Construction Company was selected to build the King Abdullah Medical City.
“The agreement embodies the close development partnership between SFD and the Bahraini government,” said a statement from the AGU. According to the Bahrain NewsAgency Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa welcomed Mr Al Marshad at a meeting that was also attended by Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Minister Wael Mubarak and Works Minister Ibrahim Hassan Al Hawaj.
Shaikh Khalid lauded SFD’s role in following up on the implementation of vital projects in the infrastructure sector that it finances within the Gulf Development Programme. “This reflects the depth of relations between the two countries and has contributed to advancing economic development in Bahrain,” said the BNA.
Shaikh Khalid also stressed the cooperation between the two countries, especially in the economic sector, with the aim of continuing to strengthen bilateral work and supporting it to achieve the common royal visions. Saudi Press Agency reported that since 1976, SFD has delivered 30 development projects and programmes in the energy, transportation, and social infrastructure sectors through soft development loans and grants, contributing to the development of vital and developmental sectors and supporting them to achieve sustainable development goals in Bahrain.