South Korea will discuss details about the improvement and development of two major ports in El Salvador with the Central American country as part of bilateral cooperation on port development and operations in El Salvador launched two years ago.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Wednesday that it will hold a meeting with Autonomous Executive Port Commission in San Salvador, the capital and largest city of El Salvador, on Thursday (local time), and discuss cooperation and basic plans for the port development. At the meeting, the two countries will review results of feasibility studies on the development and improvement of Acajutla and La Union ports in El Salvador and discuss action plans.

The Port of Acajutla is the largest port in El Salvador that manages most of the cargo in the Central American country while the Port of La Union was built to ease cargo congestion at the main Acajutla port and absorb volume from nearby countries.

The upcoming meeting comes after Korea’s Oceans Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with El Salvador’s Autonomous Executive Port Commission in 2016 to join hands in port development and operations. The ministry immediately launched a basic development study and established a plan for Acajutla port to cope with the expansion of the Panama Canal and improve the port’s old facilities. The ministry also derived measures to activate La Union port by applying cases of how Korea’s major ports including those in Incheon and Gwangyang in South Jeolla Province attracted cargo.

The results of the study will be shared with the Autonomous Executive Port Commission on Thursday.

The Oceans Ministry hopes close partnership with El Salvador can pave the way for Korean companies to take part in the country’s port development projects.

An unnamed ministry official said the ministry will provide financial consulting service to El Salvador through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund to ensure the completion of projects. Similar projects in many developing countries tend to fall through even after establishing a basic plan due to shortage of funds.

By Moon Jae-yong and Lee Eun-joo

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