The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Yong Hwan Kim, “ Korea Eximbank”) announced on November 8 that it took part in the ‘18th Annual Meeting of the Asian EXIM Banks Forum’ in Cebu, the Philippines, contributing to debates on how to promote green finance.

The Annual Meeting of the Asian EXIM Banks Forum (AEBF)*, launched in 1996 to enhance regional economic cooperation, has generated a flurry of co-financing schemes, information-sharing on large-scale projects, and personnel exchanges among Asian export credit agencies (ECAs).

* The Asian EXIM Banks Forum was initially launched with seven ECA members representing Korea, Japan, Australia, India, China, Thailand, and Malaysia. The Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam became members in 1998, 1999 and 2011, respectively. The Forum currently comprises 10 regular members and one permanent observer, ADB.

This year’s Forum was held under the theme of ‘Financing Environment-friendly and High Efficiency Projects’, and was attended by 10 regular members including Korea, Japan and Australia, and the ADB.

Participants including Chairman Yong Hwan Kim of Korea Eximbank engaged in in-depth discussions on how Asia could emerge as the next green leader while new green investments are drying up as a result of the European debt crisis.

Chairman Kim stated in his presentation, “Investments to Asia have continuously grown, even as European companies and commercial banks, which until recently had been the leaders of the green industry, are finding themselves short on resources. AEBF members, in this context, have a more important role to play than ever before in turning Asia into the next leader of the green industry.”

To that end, Chairman Kim proposed to the member institutions three specific measures for strengthening cooperation, namely: making greater use of intra-regional syndicated loans, reinforcing the network for identifying possible joint projects, and enhancing knowledge sharing.