Saudi Fund For Development offers extended credit facility of $ 1 m to SL importers

By Mohammed Rasooldeen

Saudi Fund For Development has offered extended credit facility valued at $ 1 million to Sri Lankan importers who are interested in getting non-oil products from Saudi Arabia.

The first-ever agreement, under the long term credit program was signed between the Sri Lanka’s Selmo Ltd. and the Saudi Export Program (SEP), which functions under the umbrella of the SFD. 

According to the accord, Selmo from Sri Lanka has inked a financing agreement with the Saudi Export Program (SEP) to import raw materials for plastics such as polypropylene, polyethylene and granule products from Saudi Arabia to Sri Lanka on long term credit basis. 

The agreement was signed between Selmo Managing Director Anton Hemantha and Saudi Export Program Director General Ahmed Al Ghannam, in the presence of Sri Lankan Ambassasdor Azmi Thassim and representatives from both sides. 

Director General of the SEP stressed that this program is soon to be converted as Saudi Arabia’s Exim Bank. 

Speaking to Daily FT following the signing of agreement, Hemantha said that his company has been exporting raw materials for plastic products from SABIC in Riyadh. “This is going to be a new arrangement which would not only help Sri Lanka but also Saudi Arabia to export their non-oil products to various countries in the world.”

The Saudi Export Program is the arm of the Saudi Fund for Development to finance non-oil exports from Saudi Arabia to other countries on long term credit basis specially raw material related items giving more competitive advantages to private companies to produce their products at lower cost and export to other countries. 

Several other countries have already become partners of SEP in availing themselves of the long term concessions offered by the SFD.

Under this scheme, the SEP has opened its credit facility for large number of non-oil products from Saudi Arabia and more importantly, importing of raw material related products for Sri Lanka. 

Selmo Ltd. was established in 1985 as a manufacturer of printed and unprinted polypropylene and polyethylene packaging for tea and garment industry sector. It is one of the leading manufacturers of laminated flexible packaging convertors in Sri Lanka.