Korea plans higher ODA package to RP

The South Korean government is planning to increase its financial support to the Philippines to as much as $200 million for 2007 to 2010, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said.

As of October 2006, South Korea’s loan commitments to the country totaled $131 million.

The loans were made up of seven projects in transportation, telecommunications and power sectors.

Recently, NEDA assistant director-general Rolando G. Tungpalan met with representatives of the Korean Ministry of Finance and Economy, Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) of the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Korean Embassy in the Philippines to discuss Korea’s commitment to the Philippines.

In a statement, Tungpalan said the EDCF will also support the Philippines in capacity-building efforts by sharing knowledge and experiences.

NEDA said the highest on Korea’s priority list for assistance are transportation and environment, and e-government and water supply projects.

The talks centered on how Korea can improve the effectiveness of the assistance specifically on results-based management and monitoring with systematic evaluation using log-frames throughout project implementation.