The Saudi Fund for Development inaugurated a $60 million road repair project in Sri Lanka on Tuesday. The road project, which spans from Peradeniya to Chenkaladi, intends to improve transportation infrastructure, minimise traffic-related deaths and injuries, increase road safety, and eliminate traffic bottlenecks, and will benefit more than 3 million people.

The route connects the eastern and southern provinces, as well as other parts of Sri Lanka, and is critical for the movement of a variety of agricultural products.

During the opening ceremony, Sri Lanka’s minister of highways, Johnston Fernando, complimented the Kingdom’s contributions through the SFD in funding and building infrastructure projects in the country, noting that these projects help to improve social and economic conditions.

Meanwhile, the fund’s CEO, Sultan Al-Murshed, and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa lay the foundation stone for the Wayamba University development project, which the SFD supported with $28 million.

The second project seeks to provide more than 5,000 students with teaching and learning opportunities each year, as well as improve education quality in order to boost economic and social capability for long-term growth.

According to Al-Murshed, the fund aims to improve education and community well-being while also supporting social activities.

He stated that the fund is looking forward to advancing education through this project and allowing the institution to assist the population in the Kuliyapitiya and Makandura regions.

On the fringes of their tour to the South Asian island nation, Rajapaksa met with Al-Murshed and his group to review the development projects sponsored by the fund and monitor their progress.

The prime minister also lauded the Kingdom’s efforts to the achievement of long-term development goals.

The delegation visited an epileptic hospital project, which launched in 2017 and is one of the fund’s $32 million health-care initiatives in Sri Lanka.

The SFD has awarded 15 development loans totaling $425 million to help finance and implement 13 projects in the water, energy, health, roads, and education sectors.