South Korea has promised more assistance to Myanmar's development, with the pledge to help four sectors.
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) will assist Myanmar in improving education, through a five-year project running until 2019, according to an official from the organisation.The other sectors are agriculture, human resources and rural development.
The official said that KOICA will advise on education with the construction of school buildings and teaching systems as well as on other necessary facts.
The human resources development projects include the opening of courses and scholarship programmes. For agriculture and rural region development, the KOICA said it would coordinate with ministries to find new water resources, better drainage and the construction of roads and bridges.
KOICA is a government agency responsible for grant-type aid. Geographical proximity and cultural affinity made Asia and Pacific a priority region for KOICA's assistance packages, KOICA said on its website.
Education has taken up the largest portion of the agency’s budget, accounting for 35.6 per cent. Other areas in focus are health (17.5 per cent), public administration (14.3 per cent), rural development (13.6 per cent) and industry & energy (18.7 per cent).
KOICA's aid was announced as Korea and Myanmar aims to enhance Korea's economic, political and cultural exchanges between the two countries. The Korea-Myanmar Forum 2015 also took place on May 21 in Yangon, where academics and economists from both countries shared their views on strategic partnerships and expansion of bilateral cooperation.
The forum was part of Korea Week 2015 in Myanmar running from May 21 to 26 to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Myanmar and South Korea.
According to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, Korea is ranked the 6th in terms approved foreign investment with 114 projects worth US$3.37 billion. At the end of April, 101 projects from the country have invested $3.3 billion, pushing Korea to the 5th ranking in terms of existing investment value.
In a related development, the Myanmar government has submitted a proposal to construct a bridge from Dala to Yangon, which will be mainly funded by Korea.
Construction Minister Kyaw Lwin told Parliament recently that when President Thein Sein visited South Korea in 2012 he had discussed the construction of a bridge.
Further talks led to the suggestion of a bridge over the Yangon River with an Economic Development Cooperation Fund loan from Korea.
The suspension bridge would be 6,144-foot long with the loan charged at an interest rate of 0.01 per cent, to be paid within 25 years, Kyaw Lwin said.
It is estimated to require US$168.17 million. Of total, $137.8 million will be borrowed from Korea and the rest will be balanced by the budget.
The five-year project was due to start this financial year linking Dala, Twante, Kawhmu and Kungyangon townships with Yangon, said the construction minister.
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