The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Lee Duk-hoon, “Korea Eximbank”) announced on March 30 that it will provide USD 66 million in EDCF* loans for the Juigalpa Wastewater Treatment Project initiated by the Nicaraguan government.

- The Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) was established by the Korean government in 1987 to promote economic exchanges with the developing world and to assist developing countries in achieving industrialization and economic stability through the provision of long-term, low-interest credit. As of February 2015, EDCF has committed over a total of KRW 11.6 trillion in loans for 334 projects in 55 countries.

Korea Eximbank Chairman Lee Duk-hoon met with Nicaragua's finance minister Iván Acosta Montálvan who was visiting Korea for the IDB-IIC Annual Meeting on March 28 in BEXCO, Busan and signed the loan agreement.

The Juigalpa Wastewater Treatment Project is one of the Nicaraguan government's top priority national initiatives that aims to build a sewerage treatment facility in the city of Juigalpa, an inland city in central Nicaragua.

Once the project is completed, it is expected that sanitation and living conditions of about 70,000 residents in the region will be greatly enhanced.

In particular, the project is expected to greatly contribute to preventing the contamination of the Nicaragua Lake, a main source of water supply for the country and the largest lake in Central America.

Korea Eximbank previously provided USD 33 million in EDCF loans for the Juigalpa Potable Water System Expansion Projects (Phases I and II), successfully implemented from 2004 to 2010.

The provision of EDCF loans is enabling Korean companies with advanced technologies to participate in these development projects, paving the way for Korean businesses to enter the broader infrastructure market in Latin America.

After the signing ceremony, Chairman Lee said, "We will steadily increase EDCF support for projects that have a high impact on Nicaragua's economic development in accordance with the Nicaraguan government's national development plan."