The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Kim Yong-hwan, “Korea Eximbank”) announced on July 26 that it is providing USD 59.5 million in funding from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF)* to support Sri Lanka’s ‘Solid Waste Disposal System Project’ and ‘Colombo Vocational Training Center & Gampaha College of Technology Project’.

* The Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) was established by the Korean government in 1987 to promote economic exchanges and to assist developing countries in achieving industrialization and economic stability through the provision of long-term, low-interest credit. Korea Eximbank currently manages the fund as its trustee. As of the end of May 2013, EDCF has supported 293 projects in 50 countries with KRW 9.3 trillion (commitment basis).

Executive Director Yim Seong-hyeog of the EDCF Operations Group at Korea Eximbank met with Sri Lankan Finance Secretary P.B. Jayasundera and signed the loan agreement for the projects at the Ministry of Finance and Planning in Colombo, Sri Lanka on July 24.

The ‘Solid Waste Disposal System Project’ is aimed at building sanitary landfills and organic waste composting facilities in four major cities in Sri Lanka including Panadura, for which EDCF will lend USD 33.5 billion.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had shown a keen interest in Korea’s pollution treatment technology during his visit to the country in 2012, when he made a point of visiting the Mapo Waste Disposal Facility in Seoul.

As for the Colombo Vocational Training Center and Gampaha College of Technology project, EDCF has earmarked USD 26 million in funding.

The purpose of the project is to train skilled human resources ？ the crucial driver of economic development ？ by passing on Korea’s vocational training system and know-how to Sri Lanka. Specifically, EDCF will help Sri Lanka build training facilities in Colombo and Gampaha, procure equipment, and develop teaching materials.

Once the project is completed, courses on machinery, automobiles, and computers - areas well suited to Sri Lanka’s industrial development stage - will be taught in Colombo; the curriculum in Gampaha, meanwhile, will cover cutting-edge technology including multimedia, telecommunications, and software.

A Korea Eximbank official commented, “Since the end of its civil war in 2009, Sri Lanka has seen a surge in demand for social and economic infrastructure to rebuild the nation. Considering the fact that Sri Lanka is a member of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) along with countries like India and Pakistan, we expect that EDCF’s support for Sri Lanka will pave the road for the entry of Korean companies not just to Sri Lanka but also to the wider South Asian market.”

Sri Lanka is an island country off the southeastern coast of the Indian subcontinent, nicknamed ‘the pearl of the Indian Ocean’.

It has a land area two-seventh that of the Korean Peninsula, with a population of 21 million.

Although Sri Lanka is a resource-poor country which is heavily reliant on foreign trade, its economy has been growing at over 6% annually since the end of the civil war, thanks to a blossoming tourism industry and increasing government investment.