EDCF envisions a future with emerging nations

The Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) announced kicked off its 27th EDCF cooperation workshop on Oct. 24, scheduled to span four days, with government officials from fourteen countries including Ukraine, Vietnam and Rwanda participating.

Government officials from fourteen countries including Ukraine, Vietnam and Rwanda participate in the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF)’s 27th cooperation workshop, which began on Oct. 24.

The Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) announced kicked off its 27th EDCF cooperation workshop on Oct. 24, scheduled to span four days, with government officials from fourteen countries including Ukraine, Vietnam and Rwanda participating.

The EDCF is a government-established fund to promote economic assistance to developing countries, with the aim of providing long-term, low-interest funds to those countries and fostering their economic cooperation with Korea.

The Export-Import Bank of Korea is responsible for managing and operating the fund, on behalf of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Officials from fourteen countries will gather and learn about the economic development of Korea and the core value of the EDCF thorough seminars, special lectures and actual visits to industrial sites in Korea.

Notably, the high-ranking government official responsible for Ukraine's development cooperation policy, who is leading the EDCF’s first-ever support for an emergency response to the war in Ukraine, is participating in the workshop.

On Oct. 24, at Kensington Hotel Yeouido Seoul, Prof. Chang Hye-young from Chung-Ang University shared the present state of affairs regarding Korea’s international cooperative development and emphasized the significance of cooperation during the ongoing global crises.

Practical measures were also discussed to strengthen the cooperation between Koran and developing countries.

The participants are scheduled to visit the Seoul Traffic Information Center and major metropolitan landfills during two days of the event.

During these visits, they will get to see the development cases in the green and digital fields on which the EDCF is currently focusing.

“The EDCF has supported over 500 projects in approximately 58 countries, with a total of about $23 billion. We plan to expand the scale of EDCF support particularly in the areas of green and digital development,” Park Jung-hyun, director of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Korea, said in his congratulatory speech.

“Korea's experience of developing, overcoming the aftermath of the 1950-53 Korean War and growing into a donor country, sets a good example for many developing countries,” Tran Quoc Phuong, Vietnamese vice minister of ministry of planning and investment, said.

Since 1995, the EDCF cooperation workshop has met with over 400 officials from more than 54 developing countries.

BY KIM SU-HYEON [kim.suhyeon4@joongang.co.kr]