Korea-Ethiopia EDCF Consultation Held

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on the 3rd that it held a policy consultation on the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) with the Ministry of Finance of Ethiopia and others. Ethiopia ranks third among African countries in terms of cumulative support, following Egypt and Tanzania.

The Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) refers to concessional loans provided by the Korean government to developing countries under long-term and low-interest conditions to support their economic and industrial development. This policy consultation with Ethiopia was held for the first time since the end of 2018.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is taking a commemorative photo with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali of Ethiopia ahead of the South Korea-Ethiopia summit held on June 2 at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency.

Both countries discussed the direction of economic cooperation, key support areas, and candidate projects for economic cooperation to implement follow-up measures from the summit in June. In particular, they selected priority cooperation areas such as energy, transportation, and healthcare, which are of great interest to Ethiopia and are strong sectors for Korea, and discussed candidate projects that can be pursued starting next year.

Furthermore, to enhance the effectiveness of economic cooperation projects, they agreed to explore ways to link and cooperate with grant aid agencies in related fields, thereby strengthening intergovernmental cooperation. The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, “Starting with this Korea-Ethiopia policy consultation, we will sequentially conduct economic cooperation policy consultations with major African countries,” and added, “We plan to actively support the development of African countries with high growth potential and the entry of Korean companies into Africa in the process.”