The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Kim Yong-hwan, “Korea Eximbank”) announced on September 4 that it signed a USD 67.98 million EDCF* loan agreement with the city of Santo Domingo** in Ecuador to fund the city’s sewerage expansion project.
** The fourth largest city and industrial center of Ecuador, located midway between Guayaquil, the country’s largest city on the west coast, and its capital city of Quito in the Andes.

* 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 July 2013, EDCF has supported 293 projects in 50 countries with KRW 9.3 trillion (commitment basis).

Chairman Kim of Korea Eximbank met with Mayor Verónica Zurita Castro of Santo Domingo, Ecuador at the Presidente Intercontinental Hotel in Mexico City and signed the loan agreement.

The Santo Domingo Sewerage Expansion Project is aimed at building a state-of-the-art sewage disposal system for the first time in the industrial heartland of Ecuador.

By transferring high-quality water treatment technology and equipment to Ecuador, Korea Eximbank hopes the project would help the Korean water industry secure a foothold from which to expand into Latin America and beyond.

After signing the loan agreement, Mayor Castro of Santo Domingo remarked, “We appreciate EDCF’s support for this sewerage expansion project, following its support for our water supply expansion project back in 2006. We believe the outstanding water treatment technology of Korean companies will go a long way toward improving our residents’ health and hygiene.”

Prior to the signing ceremony, Chairman Kim had another meeting with Ecuador’s Deputy Minister of Finance Luis Villafuerte Chavez in which he discussed ways to promote and financially support the participation of Korean companies in Ecuador’s infrastructure and natural resource development projects.

At the meeting, Chairman Kim expressed his desire to “combine Korea Eximbank’s own export credit instruments with EDCF loans in various ways” to support such schemes.

On the same day, Korea Eximbank also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Mexican ECA Bancomext to promote economic cooperation between Korea and Mexico, and to strengthen the channel of financial cooperation between the two agencies.

The two institutions thereby agreed not only support the participation of Korean companies in Mexican infrastructure projects from bidding to completion, but also to explore co-financing options for projects in third countries, including in Africa.