Busan Port Authority Expands Win-Win Growth Fund for SMEs to 20 Billion KRW

Expansion Every Year Since the Establishment of the 2014 Win-Win Fund... 321 Companies Benefited

From This Year, New Support Targets Include Tenants of Busan Port Facilities

Busan Port Authority (BPA, President Kang Jun-seok) extended the 'Win-Win Growth Cooperative Loan Agreement' with IBK Industrial Bank on the 27th to support the liquidity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Busan and Gyeongnam regions.

Busan Port Authority (BPA).

In 2014, BPA established the 'SME Win-Win Fund,' a 2.5 billion KRW cooperative loan fund, marking the first such initiative by a port authority. Since then, the fund has been expanded annually, providing low-interest loans to a total of 321 SMEs by 2023.

Through this year's extension agreement, BPA and IBK Industrial Bank each increased their contributions by 1 billion KRW, expanding the Win-Win Fund from 18 billion KRW to 20 billion KRW, with support starting from the 27th.

The support targets include SMEs in maritime shipping and port logistics in the Busan and Gyeongnam regions, women-owned businesses, enterprises run by persons with disabilities, job-creating companies, early-stage startups, and companies located in port facilities such as the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal. Support is provided following IBK Industrial Bank's loan screening process.

In particular, BPA emphasized that companies residing in port facilities like the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal have been newly included as support targets to stabilize the management of small business owners facing financial difficulties due to the prolonged economic downturn.

The maximum loan limit per company is 500 million KRW, and for companies located in Busan Port facilities, individual limits are separately managed in connection with annual rental fees.

Selected companies will receive an interest rate discount of 2.00 percentage points from the market interest rate.

Depending on the company's transaction contribution and credit rating, additional discounts of up to 1.40 percentage points may be applied.

BPA plans to actively support liquidity for SMEs struggling with the maritime and port industry recession and high loan interest rates, helping them stabilize management and achieve continuous growth.

Companies wishing to participate can consult, inquire, and apply at IBK Industrial Bank branches in Busan and Gyeongnam.

For more details, contact the Win-Win Fund manager at the Industrial Innovation Department of Busan Port Authority.

BPA President Kang Jun-seok stated, “We hope this will assist the business activities of SMEs related to Busan Port who are facing difficulties securing liquidity, and we will continue to actively discover and promote various win-win collaboration activities to stabilize SME management.”

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