ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia yesterday signed three grants-in-aid agreements worth $16 million to furnish and equip university and hospital projects financed by Riyadh.

The aid would be used to furnish the campus of the King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, provide the King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Teaching Hospital (KATH) with medical equipment and furniture, and endow the Hayaserai Hospital in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with medical equipment and furniture.

Pakistan has agreed to exempt goods imported for grant-in-aid projects financed by the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) from customs duty. According to an official statement, Finance Minister Asad Umar yesterday held a meeting with a six-member delegation led by Ahmad Agil Al-Khateeb, the SFD chairman and advisor to the Saudi Crown Prince. The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, Nawaf Saeed Al-Maliky, was also present.

The ongoing and pipeline projects of the SFD came under discussion with a view to accelerate the pace of their implementation. The two sides also signed three memorandums of understanding for grant-in-aid health and education projects in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.