Korea-ASEAN Financial Cooperation Center project gains momentum

Seen is an aerial view of the central business district in Jakarta, Indonesia. gettyimagesbank

By Park Jae-hyuk

The government is going all out to avoid any further delay in its ambitious plan to open the Korea-ASEAN Financial Cooperation Center, which has been pursued over the past three years as part of the Moon Jae-in administration's efforts to boost ties with Southeast Asian countries and India.

A recent document from the Mission of the Republic of Korea to the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in Jakarta showed that it had invited tenders from Korean-owned construction firms in Indonesia until last Friday to open a separate space for the center inside the mission's office in the Sentral Senayan 2 building by the end of this year, with a budget of around $340,000.

The mission plans to announce the winning bidder on Sept. 6. According to its notice, the winner should sign a contract with the mission within 10 days of the announcement, and finish construction within 90 days of beginning.

In February, the mission recruited two Korean employees to work for the center starting in May.

The government is also said to have finished hiring a government official to lead the center, as well as chosen the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and the Korea Securities Depository as the five institutions that will send their employees to the center.

The opening of the center in Southeast Asia has been delayed several times.

The Presidential Committee on the New Southern Policy had announced in May 2019 that the government was aiming to open the center in Bangkok or Jakarta by 2020 in order to offer financial support to Korean companies doing businesses in the ASEAN market and to satisfy the demand of Southeast Asian countries for financial infrastructure.

A few months later, Jakarta was selected as the city where the tower would open, and the plan was officially agreed upon between Korea and the leaders of the ASEAN member countries during their summit in November 2019.

The Korean government, however, announced in December 2020 that the center would open during the first half of 2021. Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo said the same in May, while he was attending a seminar on financial cooperation between Korea and Indonesia.

The plan was postponed again to the end of this year, as Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi agreed to the opening of the center “within this year” during their meeting in Jakarta on June 25.