Korea Exim Bank to establish ICT hub for Sri Lanka secondary education
The Korean consultant team with Sri Lankan government officials at the dissemination seminar held at the Foreign Ministry
The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) has completed the KSP-ADB Joint Consulting Programme to establish an ICT hub for secondary education project.
The dissemination seminar was held on July 26 at the Education Ministry with the chairmanship of Secretary Sunil Hettiarachchi. At the ceremony, the Korean consultant team presented the final results of the study to the government officials.
The proposed project covers an islandwide plan targeting national, provincial and zonal level ICT education. National Content Development Center (NCDC) and 2 PICTECs (Provincial ICT Education Centers) in Eastern and Southern provinces will be newly built, and five PICTECs and 99 ZICTECs (Zonal ICT Education Centers) will be fully equipped with education materials, network system, and office equipment. In addition, to make the ICT hub more sustainable capacity building programmes for government, officials and consultation on content development and e-Learning will be provided.
Today the urban population of Sri Lanka records a computer literacy level of 39.2 percent, while computer literacy in rural areas and estates are at a considerably lower 25.5 percent and 9 percent respectively. The phenomenon has become a hindrance to realising Sri Lanka’s development priority of moving towards a digital economy.
In this context, when completed this project will provide not only a strong foundation to realise a digital economy and a knowledge based society but also ICT savvy labour force for labour market to boost Sri Lankan economy.
The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) provides Official Development Assistance (ODA) for international development and cooperation. The bank signed its first ODA loan agreement with Sri Lanka in 1990 to rehabilitate the Colombo-Galle road. The Bank has approved USD 806 million for 28 development projects in Sri Lanka
The Korea Eximbank also provides financing for international trade and overseas investment, to promote bilateral economic cooperation. Since 1978, Korea Eximbank has provided USD 386 million for trade between Sri Lanka and Korea and for Korean companies’ foreign direct investments in Sri Lanka.
The KSP (Knowledge Sharing Programme) is a special technical assistance programme provided by the Korea Eximbank under the auspices of the Strategy and Finance Ministry of Korea to share Korea’s development experience and knowledge accumulated over the past decades with partner countries.
KSP offers Joint Consulting Programmes with Multilateral Development Banks, Modularization Projects, and Policy Consultation tailored to the needs of partner countries encompassing in-depth analysis, policy recommendations, and training opportunities.
