Korea’s Export-Import Bank (Korea Eximbank) has boosted its partnership with Banco de Oro Unibank by making available $500 million in additional loanable funds for Korean companies doing business in the country.
From a credit line of $200 million, Korea Eximbank raised the amount to $700 million, allowing the two banks to provide greater financial muscle to Korean enterprises operating and expanding in the Philippines.
With this agreement, which was signed last week, BDO becomes Korea Eximbank’s second largest partner bank in interbank services.
“Through the increase in the credit line, both banks secure sufficient measure to cope with the increasing financing demands of Korean companies operating in the Philippines, and local companies which have business relationships with Korean companies,” Ki-Sub Nam, deputy president of Korea Eximbank said in a statement.
Walter Wassmer, BDO senior executive vice president for institutional banking, said BDO and Korea Eximbank shared the same objective as financial institutions: “That is to see enterprises continuously grow.”
“We see this agreement as a catalyst to further strengthen our ability to assist Philippine and Korean corporations, which will contribute to sustained development of the Philippine economy,” he added.
The Philippines is one of Korea’s significant cooperation partners as indicated by the trade volume between them, which has increased 2.5 times over the past decade to hit $12.5 billion in 2013.
Korea Eximbank is an official export credit agency providing comprehensive export credit and guarantee programs to support Korean enterprises in conducting overseas business. Since its establishment in 1976, the bank has actively supported Korea’s export-led economy and facilitated economic cooperation with foreign countries.
Sy family-led BDO, on the other hand, is the Philippines’ largest bank in terms of assets, customer loans, deposits, capital and assets under management as of end-June.
In line with its increasing focus on Korean business, BDO recently opened a representative in Seoul, South Korea. It has also launched a remittance service targeting Koreans residing in the Philippines, in partnership with Korean banks Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank.
There are about 120,000 Korean nationals residing in the Philippines, including about 30,000 to 40,000 students.