Korea Development Bank executive director Roh Yung-gi (second from left, front row), International Finance Corp. vice president Karin Finkelston (center, front row) and other participants pose at the signing ceremony of the master guarantee and cooperation agreement at the KDB headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Dec. 5. (KDB)
The Korea Development Bank has launched joint trade financing projects with the International Finance Corp., a World Bank member organization, in a move to make inroads to trade funding markets in developing economies.
The state-run KDB said Sunday that it had signed a KDB-IFC master guarantee and cooperation agreement on Dec. 5 to cooperate on IFC’s trade financing projects by sharing market information and business opportunities in developing countries.
The agreement was signed a day after the World Bank launched its Korean head office in Songdo, Incheon.
According to the pact, KDB is to guarantee $100 million in trade asset financing for 19 Chinese local banks, as a part of the IFC’s existing global trade liquidity program.
The move reflects the KDB’s strategy to pioneer the yuan trade financing sector and to increase Korea’s presence in the Chinese finance industry, the KDB said in a statement.
“As a state-run financial institution, we plan to jointly participate in more large-scale international trade financing projects in developing countries,” said KDB executive director Roh Yung-gi, noting that Korean exporters would be among the eventual beneficiaries of the joint project.
“The opening of the World Bank’s regional office in Korea has helped us leverage our cooperation with the IFC,” Roh added.
By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)
