Korea Citibank Provides $2 Billion Financial Advisory to Panama Metro Consortium

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] Korea Citibank announced on the 9th that it provided financial advisory services to the consortium participating in the construction project of Panama Metro Line 3.

On the 29th of last month, a consortium composed of domestic construction companies (Hyundai Engineering & Construction, POSCO Engineering & Construction, Hyundai Engineering) signed a financial contract with Korea Citibank and the lending syndicate. The lending syndicate included domestic policy financial institutions such as Korea Citibank, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, and the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, as well as about ten financial companies. Korea Citibank, as the sole lead arranger, provided the consortium with a $2 billion syndicated loan advisory service structured as a medium- to long-term export receivables purchase.

This financial contract is the first of its kind introduced in Korea. The lending syndicate purchases accounts receivable from domestic construction companies under the guarantee of the Panama government, supporting structured finance so that the domestic construction companies can recover construction payments early.

This project, ordered by the Panama Metro Authority with a scale of $2.811 billion, is the largest infrastructure construction project in Panama's history. Domestic construction companies are expected to establish a foothold to secure the Latin American market.

Financial companies are also expected to benefit from green financing and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management aspects. The completion of Metro Line 3 is anticipated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 20,000 tons annually.

Myung Soonsun, President of Korea Citibank, emphasized, “Korea Citibank is striving to provide Korean companies with competitive financing worldwide based on its global network,” and added, “We will provide ESG financial solutions to Korean companies.”

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