□ The Export-Import Bank of Korea(www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Bang Moon-Kyu, “Korea Eximbank“) Chairman Bang Moon-kyu made a visit to a Korean company’s overseas plant for secondary battery separators amid its plan to expand financial support for global core strategic industries*.
* According to the government's "Future Strategic Industry Promotion" policy (economic policy direction in the second half of 2021, announced in June 2021), Korea Eximbank selected semiconductor, battery, and bio sectors as global core strategic industries last month and established preferential financial programs to support these sectors.
□ Chairman Bang attended an opening ceremony for the lithium-ion battery separator* plant of of SK IE Technology (“SK IET“) in Poland on October 6 (local time).
* One of the key materials for secondary batteries is the microporous film located between cathode and anode in a battery cell that prevents abnormal operations such as explosion or fire of batteries and improves stability.
○ As SK IET's first production line in Europe, this plant has a 340 million㎡ electric vehicle separator capacity.
○ In 2019, Korea Eximbank provided about 260 billion won in finance to SK IET in Poland.
○ Currently, SK IET is making large-scale investments worth a total of 2 trillion won to secure the production capacity of an annual average of 1.54 billion㎡ for lithium–ion battery separators in Silonsk, Poland. The opening ceremony of the plant was attended by senior government officials including Polish Vice Minister of Development and related business figures from SK On and others.
□ Chairman Bang said in a congratulatory message, "Even in the COVID-19 situation, the Polish government and Korean companies made efforts to make this ceremony possible. We hope that Korean companies will continue to actively enter overseas markets in the field of battery, which is one of the industries conducive to innovative growth."
○ He added, "As Korea's leading ECA, we will do our utmost effort to financially support Korean battery makers to take the lead in the development of the global market."
□ In August, Korea Eximbank has designated several industries including batteries, semiconductors, and future cars as global core strategic industries to provide concentrated support. The Bank is planning to extend more than 5 trillion won in financial support in these sectors this year.