The Asset*, a world-renowned finance magazine, named the Export-Import Bank of Korea ("Korea Eximbank") winner of the ‘2013 "Issuer of the Year," "Quasi-Sovereign Bond" in the Asia-Pacific Region**, and "The Best Deal in Korea" awards on January 13.

* The Asset is a leading market intelligence magazine first published in 1999. It specializes in the coverage of the Asian financial market, and presents its awards every year to capital market players in the Asia-Pacific Region.

* For the bank’s issuance of a USD 500 million green bond (green asset-backed bond) with a five-year maturity in February 2013

Korea Eximbank had won The Asset Awards in 2004, 2007, and 2009,* in recognition of its role as Korea's benchmark issuer.

* Best Issuer of the Year (2004, 2007), Best Quasi-Sovereign Bond and Best investment-grade Bond (2009)

The awards celebrated the way Korea Eximbank lowered its borrowing rates and diversified its funding sources by introducing innovative financing techniques and aggressively expanding into new markets in the face of heightened market volatility triggered by the Fed's mention of QE tapering.

In particular, The Asset took notice of the Green Bond that Korea Eximbank had successfully issued in 2013.

The Asset praised Korea Eximbank for "dispelling the stereotype that low-carbon and green don’t go together with profit-making, and creating a whole new paradigm where financial institutions and investors can thrive with low-carbon, green businesses in a 'win-win' arrangement.”

A Green Bond is special purpose bond issued exclusively to finance low-carbon, green industry projects.

Korea Eximbank lent the proceeds of this bond issue to low-carbon, green sector exporters at competitive rates to nurture Korea's future drivers of growth.

A Korea Eximbank official remarked, "These awards reaffirm Korea Eximbank's status in the foreign currency funding market," adding that, "We will not rest on our laurels, and will go on to set new benchmarks for Korean issuers by continuing to diversify our funding sources and to identify new investors."