Bangladesh and South Korea have signed the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) Framework Arrangement which will enable Dhaka to obtain EDCF loans up to $350 million for 2015-2017 to finance infrastructure development projects.
EDCF loan, operated by Korea Eximbank on behalf of the government of Korea, is a kind of concessional loan (ODA loan), with terms and conditions such as 0.01% interest rate per annum, 40 years of reimbursement period and 15 years of grace period.
The EDCF loans of $350 million will be extended to build the socio-economic foundations which will be essential to the economic and industrial development of Bangladesh and enhancement of living standard of the people, such as construction of general hospital of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University project ($131 million), purchase of locomotives project ($101 million), purchase of passenger carriage ($91 million), and so on.
Korea has had accumulated experiences to achieve its socio-economic growth successfully through human resources development, industrial development, and infrastructure investment.
The Korean government supports development activities and efforts of developing countries by utilising development experiences and mobilising a variety of ODA instruments like KOICA, EDCF and KSP.
It is expected that the EDCF Framework Arrangement will contribute to further strengthening the already close and friendly relationship between the two countries.
