South Korea has decided to provide Bangladesh with a soft loan of $50 million to help the country fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The embassy in Dhaka on Thursday said the loan would be provided from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), a soft loan for assisting the socio-economic development program of developing countries run by EXIM Bank Korea.
The two governments will soon enter into discussions for the implementation of the loan decision, including the conclusion of the Loan Agreement. So far, Korea has provided the EDCF to Bangladesh for 24 projects with the amount of $1.14 billion. Bangladesh is the second-largest recipient of Korea's EDCF loan.
Also, in support of Bangladesh's efforts to contain the COVID-19, Korea will donate COVID-19 test kits worth $800,000 through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other equipment such as ten units of walk-through booths through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The embassy reaffirmed the solidarity with the government and people of Bangladesh in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and wished that “this loan would play a meaningful role in Bangladeshis efforts to effectively address the COVID-19 crisis”.