Vientiane  - South Korea has granted 3.5 million dollars to build Laos' first children's hospital, media reports said Wednesday.

Construction of the Lao-Korean National Children's Friendship Hospital will begin this month and be completed by October 2010, the Vientiane Times reported.

The new hospital, which will have 160 beds and 200 medical staff, is to be built in Chanthabouly district in Vientiane, near the capital's only other hospital, the Soviet-built Mittaphab Hospital.

Laos, one of the world's poorest countries, offers rudimentary health services for its 6.7 million population.

"It would play an important role in reducing child mortality and helping Laos to reach the health-related Millennium Development Goals," said the state-run Vientiane Times. (dpa)