 |
| Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, center, speaks during a ministerial-level meeting at Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun. Yonhap |
By Lee Kyung-min
The government said Monday that it will help local firms win 30 key overseas projects by providing consulting and financing in a bid to get the Korean economy, which has additionally been hit by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, back on track.
The measure comes amid a continued drop in business projects local players have secured overseas over the past few years, with the figure plummeting to $223 million in 2019 from $652 million in 2013
"The COVID-19 pandemic and tumbling oil price pose headwinds to Korea's overseas business project expansion," Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said during a ministerial-level meeting at Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun. "The government will create momentum for a rebound by helping companies win contracts worth $30 billion in 2020 alone."
The 30 chosen projects worth up to $100 billion (121 trillion won) will be jointly conducted with countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eurasia, the Americas and Europe.
Half, or 15, will concern "investment development," which the finance ministry calls an advanced form of turnkey project, a high-value creation growth initiative whereby Korean developers oversee and manage the entire process including business model planning, equity investment, product purchases, construction and facility operation.
The remaining 15 will be limited to construction, with financing and overall management to be led by local partners there.
Those selected will be offered government support at every stage, backed by a working group comprised of the finance, land and industry ministries as well as state lenders including the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank).
The government will set up a 1.5 trillion won fund to help projects involving plant and infrastructure construction, and information technology-based "smart city" planning, set to be led by Eximbank which will invest 150 billion won.
A 400 billion won fund will be created to help finance firms seeking business opportunities in Southeast Asia and Eurasia, the two key emerging regions under the respective New Southern and New Northern policies spearheaded by the Moon Jae-in administration to diversify trading partners.
Some 1.8 trillion won in financing will be offered by the Eximbank and Korea Trade Insurance Corp. (KTIC) to help Korean firms win bids to build infrastructure in high-risk countries such as Iraq among many other countries in the Middle East.
The government will seek stable operation and expansion of the Economic Innovation Partnership Program, which are minimum-three-year, consulting-oriented joint study projects set to be participated in by Myanmar for energy development, Uzbekistan for smart city construction and Indonesia for capital relocation.
State lenders will expand "Equity Bridge Loan," to help local firms put up capital for equity investment. Twelve government-to-government (G2G) projects with 11 countries are underway. Participating countries for "smart-city" construction are Russia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia and Peru.
Single smart technology solution projects are ongoing with Laos (water resource management), Mongolia (mobility platform planning), Colombia (expressway traffic control center building), Thailand (smart mobility system) and Turkey (comprehensive data platform building and anti-disaster and crisis management planning).
A lending and loan guarantee worth 10.5 trillion won will be offered by the Eximbank to help local firms with long-term, stable funding for large projects with overseas state-run organizations such as oil companies in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
State-conducted feasibility test periods for overseas projects will be shortened to less than four months from the current seven-and-a-half.
Low-credit small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with good business prospects and growth potential will be able to receive guarantees, jointly offered by the Eximbank, KDB and the KTIC.
![[INTERVIEW] South Korea needs to make decision on sending lethal aid to Ukraine : CNAS CEO](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/a2180e54d7664819812514cc3d605dd5.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Foreign-born entertainers seek to revolutionize local industry](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/4a6b2bd3d23044d699dee3c5bb956863.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Ahn Jae-hong on playing underdog basketball coach in 'Rebound'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/fe381342632c46bfa6d3245cb475676e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
