Eximbank to expand financing for overseas infrastructure projects

Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) CEO Bang Moon-kyu speaks during a New Year's press conference held at the Korea Federation of Banks in central Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Eximbank

By Kim Bo-eun

Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) CEO Bang Moon-kyu said Monday the state-run lender will allocate 12 trillion won ($10 billion) for overseas infrastructure projects this year.

This is an increase of 41 percent from the 8.5 trillion won allocated last year.

"This year we will focus on supporting high value investment and development projects for Korean companies," Bang said in a New Year's press conference held at the Korea Federation of Banks in central Seoul.

"We will find projects that local firms can take part in, centering on new development projects such as smart cities and airports," he said.

Bang said the bank will focus on large scale projects in countries in the ASEAN region as well as in North Asia, according to the government's New Northern Policy.

Eximbank will finance projects in 10 countries this year, including Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Russia, Uzbekistan and Myanmar.

The lender has designated target sectors for each country, such as transport and water resources for Indonesia, transport for Vietnam, city development infrastructure for India and the petrochemical industry for Uzbekistan.

Bang said the bank will boost total loans to 69.3 trillion won this year, which is up 16 percent from 60 trillion won last year.

The CEO said Eximbank will focus on "increasing financing for innovative businesses and the materials, parts and equipment industry to recover exports, which drives Korea's economy."

The lender plans to extend more loans for firms in the materials, parts and equipment industry to 20 trillion won, from 19 trillion won last year.

This is part of the government's drive to strengthen the sector to reduce the influence of trade restrictions, after Japan curbed exports of key resources materials last year.

Eximbank will also increase the scale of its economic development cooperation fund to 1.18 trillion won this year, from 1.05 trillion won last year.

The lender plans to focus the funds on ICT-based infrastructure in key countries in South and North Asia.

Establishing a base for financing projects with North Korea will also be an important task for this year, Bang said.

The lender is seeking to strengthen research on strategies and policies on economic cooperation with North Korea.

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