Republic of Korea pledges to increase development assistance to Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, December 6, 2023 (FBC) – Semereta Sewasew, the State Minister for Finance, received Kang Seok-hee, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Ethiopia, at her office.

The two discussed bilateral issues focusing on strengthening Republic of Korea’s support to Ethiopia particularly in the development and economic spheres.

State Minister Semereta expressed gratitude to the government of Republic of Korea for its long-term cooperation and support to Ethiopia, citing the assistance as epitome of flourishing historical relationship between the two nations and peoples.

The Ambassador, on his part, expressed his satisfaction about the overall cooperation between the two countries and affirmed his government’s commitment to increase its overall global assistance from 3.2 billion USD in 2023 to 5.2 billion USD in 2024.

He pointed out that Ethiopia’s participation in the next year’s Korea-Africa Summit will be vital to take advantage of the targeted assistance.

Cho Han Deog, Country Director of KOICA Ethiopia office, explained that the development assistance aims at strengthening manufacturing capabilities, health care services, climate change response and enhancing resilience and social integration.

There are 18 ongoing projects with a budget of 140 million USD and 7 projects in the pipeline with an estimated budget of 105 million USD, Cho Han Deog said, adding that 15 volunteers are rendering services at the moment.

Sunmyung Hwang, Chief Representative of Korea EXIM Bank, highlighted the progress of the eleven ongoing projects worth of 870 million USD and other projects in the pipeline. He urged the Ministry of Finance to make preparations to submit new priority projects for the upcoming framework arrangement.

Finally, both sides agreed to hold bilateral policy consultations annually and put emphasis on the preparation of less fragmented and more impactful projects in the future.