The US Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) has authorised a US$2 billion direct loan to UAE?s Barakah One Company to underwrite the export of American equipment and service-expertise for the construction of a nuclear power plant in UAE
The credit line comes under the ?US-UAE 123 Agreement for Peaceful Civilian Nuclear Energy Cooperation? signed by both the countries in 2009 and the ?Arrangement Between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of the US and the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation of the UAE For the Exchange of Technical Information and Cooperation in Nuclear Safety and Security Matters? in 2010.
The United States? National Security Council and the Departments of State and Energy have approved the transaction.
The transaction will finance the construction of the first nuclear power plant on the Arabian Peninsula, which upon completion will be among the largest nuclear-generating facilities in the world.
Additionally, the loan ranks as Ex-Im Bank's largest transaction in the UAE to date and counts as the bank's first greenfield nuclear-plant financing since the late 1990s. This will create more than 5,000 American jobs in 17 states.
?The 5,000 American jobs figure speaks volumes about the importance of the transaction to the US economy,? said Ex-Im Bank chairman and president Fred P Hochberg.
