50 Tln Won In Oustanding Loans

Korea Exim Bank President Yang ebullient for the bank's future operation

Korea Export-Import Bank projects its outstanding loan will exceed 50 trillion won this year due to increases in exports, President Yang Cheon-shik of the government-run bank said recently.
Marking a year since he took office the top manager of the bank Sept. 12, President Yang during a get-together with reporters said the bank's loans as of the end of August already amounted to 27.6 trillion won, taking up 85 percent of the bank's targeted loan amount already, he said.
The amount corresponds to a 36 percent increase with credit outstanding totaling 45.9 trillion won as of the end of August. The bank projects its credit outstanding would come to 50 trillion won by the end of this year.
President Yang attributed the healthy situation to continued export increase, especially, in plants, vessels and construction. On the bank's 6.25 percent stake in Korea Exchange Bank, he said it can be sold to HSBC based on tag along clause of the sales agreement, but the bank has not yet got notice from Lone Star, the major shareholder of the KEB.
He said when the bank gets the notice, many options will be considered including the price of KEB shares and the outlook to get rid of the shares.
On the legal problems that occurred when the exim bank sold its shares to Lone Star in 2003, he said the bank will wait until the court rules on the legality of Lone Star's acquisition of KEB and then think about bringing a administrative law suit against Lone Star.
On moves to change the business territory of the exim bank, he said he knows that the proposal to allow the bank to extend debt guarantees up to $100 million to foreign business firms has been put on the table of t The Korea Export/Import Bank provided a total of 30.75 trillion won in loans and credit for the first time exceeding the 30 trillion won level last year, breaking record for the fourth year in a row.
The management result also showed great figures with net profit amounting to 166.6 billion won ending the year in the black for over 30 years and NPL the lowest among the banking institutions in the country at 0.13 percent last year.
In October, last year, the Moody's Credit Ratings Agency upgraded the bank's credit rating to Aa3, the highest among the banks in the country, boosting the bank's international reputation.
Also in the customer satisfaction index conducted by the Ministry of Budget and Planning for state-owned corporations, the bank came up top last year for two years in a row. Among some 63 companies and government organizations surveyed on the evaluation of the reform, the bank was rated as the top organization.
For this year, the exim bank plans to disburse 18 trillion won in loans and 14.5 trillion won in credit, totaling 32.5 trillion won to ensure continued export growth and keep boosting international competitive edge of Korean export firms. The bank will search for companies with high potentials in the areas of aviation, electric motors, and service and support their growth as export industries to strengthen Korea's export engines.
The bank will strengthen also such existing export industries as plants, and shipbuilding by providing tailor-made financial support and also help overseas investment by Korean companies and the enhancement of competitiveness of Korean global firms. The bank will also focus its support on SME exports to grow and expansion of the exploration of natural resources overseas by Korean firms
He said the bank backed up the development of the country's shipbuilding and capital goods industries, along with heavy and chemical industries up until 1980s from the time the bank first launched its operation.
The bank also played a role of managing the Economic Development Cooperation Fund for the government to provide loans to developing countries in support their economic development. For this year, the EDCF has been increased to 550 billion won from 360 billion won last year and the provision of loans will be made in a diversified way and advanced manner.
Until the mid-1990s, the bank provided financial support to the growth of plant and machinery exporters and SMEs. The eximbank also administered the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund entrusted by the government. This year, the fund will be managed more effectively to make inter-Korean economic cooperation become more beneficial to both divided Koreas in real sense of the word.
The bank will continue to push its reform and strengthen its internal working capacity to make achieving its management targets attainable. The bank's operation can be divided into three areas; export-import, overseas investment, and the management of OECDF and inter-Korean cooperation fund. nw

Chairman and President Yang Cheon-shik of Korea Export-Import Bank.