Bridgehead to Southwest Asia
The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) announced on Jan. 20 that it held an opening ceremony of the “Korea Eximbank Colombo Office” in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on the 19th (local time), and started its operation.
The office will help Korean companies export and import and attract foreign investment for their business in Sri Lanka, and seek and support social and economic infrastructure development projects through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), playing a role as a regional office in Southwest Asia.
The EDCF is a bilateral ODA loan program which was established by the Korean government in 1987. The objectives of the EDCF are to support industrialization and economic development of developing countries through long-term low-interest loans, and encourage the development of a sound economic relationship between other countries and Korea.
Sri Lanka is the fifth-biggest borrower from Korea Eximbank through the EDCF among 53 countries. To date, Korea Eximbank has provided Sri Lanka with an aggregate amount of US$ 610 million (742.07 billion won) in loans on a commitment basis for 27 projects through the EDCF, starting with the Colombo-Galle Road Rehabilitation Project in 1990.
Along with it, the bank has provided a total of US$340 million (413.61 billion won) to the country for export financing and foreign investment financing from 1978 until now, promoting economic cooperation between the two countries.