ABU DHABI, July 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide Iraq with an aid of one billion US dollars soon, a visiting Iraqi minister said here Thursday.

   Iraqi Planning Minister Mehdi al-Hafidh told reporters that he got the promise from Saudi officials when he visited the oil-rich kingdom earlier this week.

   Saudi and Iraqi businessmen would meet in October to discuss the development projects for Iraq, he added.

   A donors conference held in Madrid, Spain, last October was attended by more than 70 countries and they pledged to provide 33billion dollars in reconstruction aid to Iraq.

   During the meeting, Saudi Arabia announced a bilateral aid of one billion dollars between 2004 to 2007.  Enditem