Korea to help Laos leave UN's 'least developed' list by 2026

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Korea to help Laos leave UN's 'least developed' list by 2026

Published: 03 Oct. 2024, 18:59 Updated: 03 Oct. 2024, 19:04

This file photo, provided by the Korea Heritage Service on Jan. 3, 2024, shows Korean workers and officials taking part in a project to recover a major cultural asset in Laos. [YONHAP]

Korea and Laos held a policy consultation meeting regarding official development assistance (ODA) programs meant to help the Southeast Asian country graduate from the United Nations category of least developed countries, Seoul's finance ministry said Thursday.

The bilateral ODA policy consultation meeting, the third of its kind, took place in Vientiane, Laos on Tuesday after a four-year hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

During the meeting, the two nations discussed ways to continue cooperation in water resources, energy, hygiene, education and regional development, among other fields, under the ODA platform.

They also agreed on the need to renew the framework arrangement of the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), which expired last year, and discussed candidate projects.

“Such cooperative projects are expected to help Laos achieve the goal of graduating from least developed country status by 2026,” a ministry official said.

The meeting brought together officials from Korea's finance and foreign ministries, as well as the Export-Import Bank of Korea and relevant institutions.

Korea set aside a record budget of 6.26 trillion won ($4.27 billion) for this year's ODA programs.

The country launched the EDCF program in 1987 to support economic and social infrastructure projects in developing countries.

Yonhap