Bolivia names street after Korea as symbol of friendship, cooperation

Published : Mar 9, 2017 - 09:52 Updated : Mar 9, 2017 - 09:52

Bolivia has named one of its streets after South Korea in a show of respect and friendship for the country that helped build its new town in Santa Cruz, the Seoul government said Thursday.

The 80-meter wide, 9.85-kilometer-long road bisecting the new town of Santa Cruz was named "Avenida Corea" or Korea Avenue in a ceremony held Wednesday (Bolivia time), according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The rendered image (on left), provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, shows a section of road named after South Korea (highlighted in red) in a new town currently under construction in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. (Yonhap)

Seoul has been providing technical consultations on the construction of the new, highly connected "smart town" at the request of the Bolivian government since 2014, the ministry said.

A number of South Korean firms have also worked with the South American nation to help build the new town, it noted.

The project is said to be worth US$3.2 billion, and will be completed by 2035. The town, once built, will be home to some 350,000 people in 100,000 households.

"I hope the naming of the street will lead to an expansion of South Korean companies' participation in the project to build a new town in Santa Cruz, which will also mark South Korea's first export of a new, smart town," Kim Kyung-hwan, vice minister of land, infrastructure and transport, was quoted as saying while attending the naming ceremony in Bolivia.

"Furthermore, I hope bilateral cooperation between the two countries will expand to various other areas." (Yonhap)