Jungjingong and Export-Import Bank Join Hands to Rescue SMEs in Early Export Crisis

Agreement Signed on the 4th for Joint Support and Sustainable Growth of Early Export Companies

On the 4th, at the business agreement ceremony between the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and the Export-Import Bank, Kim Hak-do, Chairman of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (right), and Visit Kyoo, President of the Export-Import Bank, are posing for a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kim Hak-do, hereinafter referred to as SBC) announced on the 4th that it signed a business agreement with the Export-Import Bank of Korea (President Visit Byung-gyu, hereinafter referred to as Exim Bank) to jointly support early export companies and ensure sustainable growth. The signing ceremony was attended by 10 people, including Kim Hak-do, Chairman of SBC, and Visit Byung-gyu, President of Exim Bank. The number of attendees was minimized, and the event was conducted in strict compliance with the government's COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, including wearing masks and installing partitions.

The two organizations agreed to strengthen the linkage of export projects such as joint support and to work together to secure the sustainability of early export companies, which are more vulnerable in the unstable export environment caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and exchange rate fluctuations. First, through mutual financial information network linkage, they will jointly support SBC's policy fund loans and Exim Bank's loans to export small and medium enterprises. In addition, they will provide linked support for SBC's export support projects to Exim Bank's loan companies to help early normalization of export crisis companies.

They also agreed to cooperate so that companies participating in SBC's export marketing support projects can use Exim Bank's funds. In particular, companies residing in SBC's export incubator (BI) will be able to receive loans for funds necessary to establish local corporations. They will also work together to support management crisis companies through a proactive autonomous restructuring program. This provides crisis companies with opportunities to independently pursue management normalization programs by proactively supporting the costs of establishing restructuring plans, new loans, and maturity extensions of existing loans before bankruptcy or rehabilitation.

According to the '2021 Export Outlook and Policy Task Survey' report by the Korea Federation of SMEs, the top priority task identified by export small and medium enterprises as a government focus was support to resolve logistics difficulties (52.8%), followed by non-face-to-face export marketing support (42.2%), digital trade activation support (17.6%), and strengthening export insurance and financial support (16.8%). SBC is diversifying cooperation with related organizations to alleviate such export company difficulties. In October last year, it signed a business agreement with national shipping companies to resolve logistics transportation and freight issues, and in November, it signed a business agreement with the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation to secure an export safety net for early export companies.

Chairman Kim Hak-do said, "This agreement lays the foundation for the export recovery and management normalization of export small and medium enterprises, which are the foundation of the national economy," and added, "Based on mutual cooperation with the Export-Import Bank, we will help export companies escape crises such as COVID-19 and provide a safety net through proactive financial support so that companies facing difficulties can overcome management crises early."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.