The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Lee Duk-Hoon, "Korea Eximbank") is strengthening financial cooperation with two regional development banks in Latin America to support the entry of Korean companies into local markets.

Korea Eximbank announced on March 29 that the Bank signed an 'Interbank Export Loan Agreement with a Credit Limit of USD 100 Million' with Central American Bank for Ecocomic Integration (CABEI) at Chosun Hotel, Busan on March 28.
The agreement opens the way for Korea Eximbank to finance Korean exports to CABEI's regional member countries through a USD 100 million credit line to the regional development bank.

The Interbank Export Loan is a financial arrangement whereby Korea Eximbank extends a credit line to a foreign bank, from which the latter draws funds to lend to local firms transacting with Korean companies.
Central America is a market where Korea is recording a trade surplus, and a strategic entry target for Korean firms as it straddles two other major markets to its north and south.

Chairman Lee remarked at the signing ceremony, "The financial cooperation framework we have established with CABEI will give us various options for financing the participation of Korean firms in projects in CABEI's regional member countries. We will work closely with CABEI to help korean companies win new projects in Central America, not least in the service sector."

The day before the agreement with CABEI, Chairman Lee also met with IDB General Director Luis Alberto Moreno to sign an 'Interbank Export Loan Guarantee Agreement' at the Bexco Convention Center in Busan.

This agreement opened the way for Korea Eximbank to provide IDB-guaranteed Interbank Export Loans to 99 banks in 21 Latin American countries, including many whose weak credit ratings had previously precluded them from eligibility for the Interbank Export Loan.

After signing the agreement, Chairman Lee remarked, "The vastness and diversity of the Latin American market have made it quite challenging for Korean companies to penetrate. But now that the agreement with IDB has made it possible for us to extend support to every part of the continent, we will redouble our financial backing to Korean exporters bound for Latin America."