The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will transfer domestic rail technology to Peru and El Salvador under an official development assistance (ODA) project. Shown above is the Korean express train KTX in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Jihae

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will transfer domestic rail technology to Peru and El Salvador under an official development assistance (ODA) project. 

The ministry on Oct. 29 said a delegation comprising figures from the ministry, International Contractors Association of Korea, Korea National Railway, Dongmyeong Engineering Consultants and Dohwa Engineering will visit the Peruvian Ministry of Transport and Communications on Oct. 30 and the El Salvador Ministry of Public Works, Transport, Housing and Urban Development on Nov. 1. 

The group will attend a briefing on launching the project and a signing ceremony for a document on implementation.

The ministry supports feasibility studies in both countries on the rail project. Korean companies are expected to take part in the venture after its launch.

Ministry officials will hold talks with Peruvian Vice Minister of Transport and Communications Ismael Sutta Soto and Salvadorean Minister of Public Works, Transport, Housing and Urban Development Edgar Romeo Rodriguez Herrera to express Korea's intent to cooperate in infrastructure including the ODA project.

In Peru, Korea is participating in the construction of an airport in Chincero. A train there will connect the airport, the regional gateway to the tourist attraction Machu Picchu, and Cusco.

In El Salvador, Korean companies since last year have taken part in a project to build the Los Chorros viaduct and highway, the largest public project in the country's history, and improve roads.

The feasibility study for the Pacific Train project, this year's collaboration project between Korea and the Central American country, seeks to build the El Salvador section of a rail line connecting multiple Central and South American nations.

Kim Sang-moon, director of the ministry's Construction Policy Bureau, said, "Through ODA support in the early stages of the project, we will expand opportunities for our companies to take part in large-scale infrastructure projects in Central and South America." 

jihlee08@korea.kr