The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) has opened a representative office in Colombo as trade ties between South Korea and Sri Lanka continue to strengthen.

Trade between the two rose 6% last year, reaching US$408mn in 2015. Korean companies have been investing in Sri Lanka’s industrial zones and working on projects in the logistics and infrastructure sectors.

Trade finance relations have been growing in recent years too. Late in 2014, Hatton National Bank (HNB) in Sri Lanka became the first local bank to borrow from Kexim, when it secured a US$50mn line of credit to finance bilateral trade.