South Korea to Help Colombia Develop Shipbuilding Industry

South Korea will provide $5 million in support to Colombia to help the country develop its shipbuilding industry. The support, which will come from the South Korean government’s Korea International Cooperation Agency, will help to develop a long-term plan as well as training and other support as the South American country seeks to build the industry.

South Korea’s efforts to support the development of Colombia’s shipbuilding industry comes as FINCANTIERI S.p.A. plans to move forward with a $150 million investment to build a new shipyard in Mexico’s Yucatan region at the port of Progreso.

Fincantieri announced last year that it had an agreement with Mexico for the development of a large ship repair facility including the construction of two large dry docks. At the time they said the Mexican yard would become one of the largest in the Americas.

The Colombian government chose the shipbuilding industry to become one of the core national industries and has been making effort to promote its advancement. However, the Colombian shipbuilding industry is currently focused on ship repairs and was held back from entering the international market by its focus on smaller ships and primarily the use of glass-reinforced plastic, best suited to smaller vessels.

At the conclusion of the agreement between the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo (MINCIT), the Koreans agreed to assist Colombia in the development of the foundation for the shipbuilding industry. 

KOICA will support the establishment of policies that promote the Colombian shipbuilding industry while helping the current shipbuilding operations transition to an industry that focuses on steel ships and the improvements in the industry ecosystem to enter the global market.

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