Sudan received pledges for $3.55 billion to help develop the impoverished east of the country at a two-day conference in Kuwait, short of the $4 billion it sought to raise.

�Most of those who made pledges did not specify certain projects,� Mostafa Osman Ismail, an adviser to Sudan�s president, said in Kuwait City today. �Most of the pledges are for developmental and infrastructure projects. Pledges made for investments weren�t a lot.�

Kuwait�s government promised $500 million, Iran said it would contribute $200 million and China pledged $35 million, Ismail told reporters at the conference in which 42 countries participated. Britain�s promised $70 million, while the European Commission pledged about $35 million, he said. The Sudanese government has said it will contribute $1.57 billion.

The government aimed to attract foreign investors for a set of projects valued at $2 billion, while another $2 billion was needed in loans and grants, Osman said on Nov. 28.

The Islamic Development Bank pledged $200 million, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development promised $210 million and the Arab Investment Guarantee Organization put in $300 million.

Sudan�s government pledged to develop eastern Sudan in a 2006 peace agreement it signed with rebels there. The region hosts almost 80,000 registered refugees from Sudan�s eastern neighbors, mainly Eritreans, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dahlia Kholaif in Kuwait at [email protected].