SEJONG: South Korea reached an agreement with a development bank in Central America on Tuesday to finance US$100 million for the region’s infrastructure-building projects, the finance ministry here said. Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho and Nick Rischbieth, the president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), signed a deal in Seoul to create a combined $200 million fund to help the region expand infrastructure in the renewable energy, electronic governance and health care sectors, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.
South Korea will chip in $100 million into the fund through the state-run Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) launched in 1987 and aimed at helping developing countries by providing cheap loans. The ministry said the agreement will help South Korean companies make inroads into the Central American region. Founded in 1960, CABEI, with 12 members, including Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica, is aimed at extending loans to private- and government-led development projects in Central America.
