Export-Import Bank Builds Comprehensive Financial Cooperation Network in Latin America

Consecutive Meetings with the Presidents of Colombia and the Dominican Republic and CABEI President
Occidente and BANDEX Banks Sign $100 Million Loan Agreements and MOUs
President Bang Moon-kyu: "Supporting Significant Expansion into Latin American Markets through Opening of Bogot? Office"

On the 22nd (local time), the opening ceremony of the Export-Import Bank Bogot? Office was held in Bogot?, Colombia, attended by Ambassador Chu Jong-yeon to Colombia, Maria Lombana, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, and others. (From the third person from the left in the photo) Bang Moon-kyu, President of the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Maria Lombana, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, and Ambassador Chu Jong-yeon to Colombia.

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) has embarked on establishing a comprehensive financial network to support overseas orders for Korean companies in the Latin American region. KEXIM President Bang Bong-kyu met sequentially with the President of Colombia, the President of the Dominican Republic, and the President of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) to discuss comprehensive cooperation plans for Korean companies' entry into infrastructure and energy projects in Latin America.

According to KEXIM on the 27th, President Bang met with Colombian President Iv?n Duque at the Presidential Palace in Bogot? on the 22nd (local time) to discuss support plans through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) for climate change response, digital transformation, and electric vehicle projects.

On the same day, President Bang held an opening ceremony for the KEXIM Bogot? office, attended by Chu Jong-yeon, Ambassador to Colombia, and Mar?a Lombana, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia.

Immediately after the opening ceremony, KEXIM signed a $100 million on-lending financial agreement with Banco de Occidente, a Colombian bank specializing in lease financing, at the Bogot? office.

On the 24th, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, President Bang held consecutive meetings with Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, and Dante Mossi, President of CABEI, to discuss Korean companies' participation and financial support plans for the Dominican government's LNG power generation project and transportation infrastructure projects such as metro and railways.

Prior to this, on the 23rd, President Bang signed a $100 million memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BANDEX, the Dominican Republic's export credit agency (ECA), to support exports of Korean companies in local LNG terminals, ports, infrastructure projects, renewable energy, and ICT projects.

Traditionally, Spain, the United States, and China have been the major contractors for infrastructure projects in Latin America, but recently, due to fiscal deterioration in various governments following the COVID-19 pandemic, securing funds for large-scale infrastructure projects has become challenging.

In response, based on the proactively established financial cooperation system with CABEI, BANDEX, and others, KEXIM is expected to provide more active financial support when Korean companies participate in large-scale public-private partnership (PPP) projects or infrastructure projects in Latin America in the future.

President Bang said, "2022 marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Colombia and the Dominican Republic," adding, "Latin America is a market where overseas orders, previously concentrated in the Middle East and Asia, can be diversified. Through this financial sales trip and the opening of the Bogot? office, KEXIM plans to actively support Korean companies in securing infrastructure and energy projects in Latin America."

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