The Government of Korea has decided to provide Bangladesh with a soft loan of 50 million USD to support Bangladesh’s efforts for fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The loan will 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, said the Korean Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.

The Korea and Bangladesh Governments will soon enter into discussions for the implementation of the loan decision, including the conclusion of the Loan Agreement.

So far, the Republic of Korea has provided the EDCF to Bangladesh for 24 projects with the amount of 1.14 billion USD. 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 USD 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.

Reaffirming the solidarity with the government and people of Bangladesh in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes that this loan would play a meaningful role in Bangladeshis efforts to effectively address the COVID-19 crisis.