8 August 2024
The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Wednesday that it will provide a
$260 million loan grant to the Philippines to support the development of Bacong airport in Negros Oriental, Philippines.
Yoon Hee-sung, chairman and CEO of
Eximbank, met with Ralph G. Recto, the secretary of the Philippine
Department of Finance, in Manila on the day to sign the Economic
Development Cooperation Fund loan agreement.
The project aims to establish a new airport in central Philippines with the capacity to handle 2 million passengers per year.
The
EDCF provides long-term, low-interest loans to foster industrial growth
and economic stability in developing countries while facilitating the
global expansion of domestic companies. This loan represents the largest
amount ever provided by the EDCF for a project in the Philippines.
Eximbank
anticipates that this new project will enhance opportunities for
domestic firms to engage in the Philippines' highly demanded aviation
sector.
In addition, Eximbank signed a cooperation arrangement to
offer $3 billion in Economic Development Promotion Facility support to
the Philippines over the next five years. The EDPF is designed to fund
large-scale infrastructure projects in developing nations.
Eximbank
expects that the pre-established EDPF support limit and time frame will
enable both countries to concentrate on identifying promising project
candidates.
"This loan provision and cooperation arrangement will
act as a basis for leveraging finance for landmark projects in the
Philippines, and will serve as a stepping-stone for Korean firms to
penetrate large-scale infrastructure construction markets," said Yoon.
