□ The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Bang Moon-kyu, “Korea Eximbank”) announced on the 17th that it has signed a loan donation contract with Uzbekistan (Uzbeck)'s Finance Ministry to provide $84 million in the "National Pharmacy University Construction Project."
* Economic Development Cooperation Fund: EDCF : Korea Eximbank has been entrusted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to operate and manage the economic aid fund for developing countries since 1987. It provides long-term low-interest loans to support industrial development and economic stability in developing countries, and promotes economic exchanges between developing countries and Korea.
ㅇ Chairman Bang Moon-kyu met with Uzbek government delegations, including Uzbek Vice Minister of Investment and Trade Shukhrat Vafaev, who visited his headquarters in Yeouido that day and signed a loan donation contract.
ㅇ The Uzbek government delegation is visiting Korea to attend the 3rd Northern Forum to be held on the 18th.
□ In the meantime, Korea Eximbank has provided a total of $630 million in EDCF to Uzbekistan, one of the key countries in the new northern policy.
ㅇ Among them, the amount of support in the health and medical sectors was $394 million, accounting for about 62%.
ㅇ For example, Korea Eximbank provided a total of $100 million in loans to build Uzbekistan's first children's hospital in 2014, and signed a loan donation contract of $120 million in January to support the construction of a general hospital in Tashkent.
□ Currently, Uzbekistan's pharmacists and pharmaceutical research personnel are very insufficient compared to demand.
ㅇ There is only one pharmacy university, and education and research facilities are aging, so it is urgent to establish a foundation for high-quality education.
ㅇ The establishment of the National Pharmaceutical University with the provision of EDCF is expected to serve as a foundation for fostering excellent human resources in the Uzbek pharmaceutical industry in the future.
□ In particular, the project to build the National College of Pharmacy plays a pivotal role in the "Tashkent Pharmaceutical Cluster Construction Project" promoted by the Uzbek government to develop its own pharmaceutical industry.
ㅇ The pharmaceutical cluster is a pharmaceutical complex in which educational and research institutes, administrative institutions, and production facilities related to the pharmaceutical industry all reside nearby.
ㅇ With the cluster expected to become an infrastructure for the development of the Uzbek pharmaceutical industry, Korean companies are expected to enter and cooperate in various fields from pharmaceutical education to research and production.
□ Uzbekistan is a key country in the new northern policy, and cooperation in the health and medical sectors has become more important in the post-COVID-19 era, said Chairman Bang Moon-kyu.
