Shipbuilders, banks to rev up financial support for subcontractors

Hanwha Ocean's Geoje shipyard in South Gyeongsang Province / Korea Times photo by Kim Hyung-jun

The country's major shipbuilders and local banks have teamed up to give more financial support for shipbuilding-related smaller firms, the industry ministry said Wednesday.

According to the ministry, Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries , along with Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank, have chipped in to create a combined 42.6 billion-won ($28.9 million) fund for trade insurance.

In January this year, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hana Bank already funneled a total of 28 billion won into the fund, which is used to provide insurance to shipbuilding parts manufacturers and their subcontractors.

The industry ministry said a total of 1 trillion won worth of trade insurance will be offered to shipbuilders' subcontractors.

In addition, local banks will pump a total of 15 trillion won in productive finance to smaller exporters, the ministry said.