Korea’s Vice Minister, top biz team in town

Monday, 20 June 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Kim Kyung Hwan, Vice Minister of Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will visit Sri Lanka from 19 to 21 June.

He is being accompanied by high-level officials and a large business delegation comprising of both state-owned and private corporations representing the infrastructure sector, including Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Land and Housing Corporation, and Korea Water Resources Corporation.

The growing economic cooperation between Korea and Sri Lanka prompted the official visit, which is expected to be a great opportunity, in particular for the Korean construction companies to explore prospects for investment in Sri Lanka.

During the Vice Minister’s visit, he is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Minister of Megapolis and Western Development Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama, , and State Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe. He will discuss the large-scale Megapolis project in the Western Province encompassing a number of infrastructure-oriented sub-projects.

Following up with the MoU on development projects in the Western Province signed by the governments of Korea and Sri Lanka in May 2015, detailed methods of cooperation between the Korea Land and Housing Corporation and its counterpart in the Megapolis Ministry will also be discussed during the visit.

The Vice Minister will also have a meeting with D. C. Dissanayake, Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education and Highways, on the Central Expressway project in which Korean construction companies would like to be involved.

In light of the recent disaster in Sri Lanka, the delegation includes an officer from the Korea Water Resources Cooperation, to seek cooperation for technical assistance on flood control and prevention.