Korea, Ethiopia discuss EDCF projects for deeper cooperation

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shakes hands with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed before a meeting at the Presidential Office in Yongsan District, Seoul, in this picture provided by Yoon's office. Korea Times file

Korea and Ethiopia have held a policy consultation meeting on envisioned joint projects in energy, transportation and health care fields through the cooperation fund, Seoul's finance ministry said Wednesday.

During the meeting held in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, the two nations chose energy, transportation and health and medical sectors as key cooperation fields under the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) framework and discussed candidate projects, according to the finance ministry.

The move came as Korea and Africa renewed the EDCF Framework Arrangement that calls for increasing Seoul's support for Africa to $1 billion from $300 million during the inaugural Korea-Africa Summit hosted by President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul in June.

"The two sides agreed to further boost government-level cooperation in an effort to boost the effectiveness of such joint projects," the ministry said in a release.

Korea plans to hold policy consultations with other African nations, including Tanzania and Morocco, it added.

Korea launched the EDCF program in 1987 with the purpose of supporting economic and social infrastructure projects in developing countries. (Yonhap)