KEXIM signs $0.81b loan agreement for Karnaphuli River rail-road bridge construction
The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) has finalised a $0.81 billion loan agreement for the construction of a rail-cum-road bridge over the Karnaphuli River.
Chairman and CEO of KEXIM, Hee-sung Yoon, signed the agreement with Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), Ministry of Finance, on 27 June at the ERD office in Dhaka.
Young-sik Park, ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bangladesh, also attended the signing ceremony.
This project, with a total cost of $1.24 billion, will receive $0.43 billion in funding from the Bangladeshi government, while the remaining $0.81 billion will be provided by the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) and Economic Development Promotion Fund (EDPF) of South Korea.
The initiative represents the largest-ever EDCF-supported endeavor and marks the first instance of combined financing from EDCF and EDPF in Bangladesh.
Once completed, the bridge will be the sole rail-cum-road connection between Chattogram Port and the industrial zone, aimed at reducing logistics costs, enhancing trade, and boosting Bangladesh’s economic growth.
This agreement included a tailored Official Development Assistance (ODA) designed specifically to address Bangladesh’s extensive infrastructure development needs, in alignment with the Indo-Pacific Strategy—a cornerstone of South Korea’s foreign policy.
Later, KEXIM Chairman and CEO Hee-sung Yoon paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her parliament office.
He said, “The Korean government has expressed its strong admiration for Bangladesh’s impressive economic trajectory. Recogniswing the Bangladesh government’s commitment to fostering innovative industrial development policies, the Korean government and the KEXIM have pledged to further strengthen their support for Bangladesh’s industrial development with EDCF and EDPF.”
