BD, Korea sign deal on $3b loan for mega projects

Diplomatic Correspondent: Bangladesh and Korea signed two agreements over a $3 billion loan for implementing mega projects in the country.
Under the Letter of Understanding (LoU) and Cooperation Arrangement (C/A), Korea will provide $3 billion as a soft loan through the Economic Development Promotion Facility (EDPF) for the period 2023-2027, reads a press release.
Sharifa Khan, secretary of the Economic Relations Division, and Seong-wook Kim, deputy minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Finance signed the agreements on behalf of their respective countries.
At the same time, Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, additional secretary, Economic Relations Division and Tae-soo Kim, executive director, Korea Exim Bank, also signed the financial cooperation agreement. The interest rate of the loan agreement of each project signed under these will be 1% with a 30-year repayment period including a seven-year grace period. The management fee would be 0.4%, and contractors will be appointed through international bidding.
Korea has been providing soft loans through their development partner Korea Exim Bank for the development of socio-economic, infrastructure and ICT sectors in Bangladesh since 1993.
So far, 16 projects worth $619.78 million have been completed with Korea’s assistance and seven more worth $616.28 million are ongoing.
The Korean government has committed to providing Bangladesh with a total of $1.31 billion through soft loans, which is the second largest amount among its development partner countries.