INTRODUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE OPEC MEMBER COUNTRIES IN FINANCING THIRD-WORLD DEVELOPMENT

The subject matter of this book has been my major concern, over the last seven years, since I started my responsibilities at the OPEC Fund as its first Director-General. Although the institution and the job were new, ten years had already passed since I had first been involved in Arab development finance, as adviser to the Kuwait Fund. It is with these seventeen years of personal involvement that I wish to address the important phenomenon that has come to be known as ‘OPEC aid efforts’.