The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman EUN, Sung-soo, “Korea Eximbank”) announced on March 26 that, it provided bond guarantees jointly with Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF) for 70 million Singapore dollars worth of bonds issued by Singapore-based CJ Logistics Asia, an overseas subsidiary of CJ Logistics in Korea.
* CGIF: a multinational financial organization that provides guarantees for local currency denominated bonds issued by ASEAN and Korean, Chinese and Japanese companies
CGIF is a trust fund of the Asia Development Bank (ADB), which was established in November 2010 to promote economic development, stability and resilience of financial markets in Asia.
The Korean government has a 14.2 percent stake in CGIF through Korea Eximbank. This was the first cooperation between Korea Eximbank and CGIF to support the bond issuance of a Korean company overseas. This joint project between the two institutions is considered a useful financial cooperative model that can be applied to accommodate the needs of Korean companies seeking to raise funds in Asian capital markets.
This was also the first time for CJ Logistics to issue overseas bonds through its overseas subsidiary. Thanks to the support of Korea Eximbank and CGIF, CJ Logistics Asia successfully issued bonds and restructured its finance structure from short-term loans to long-term finance laying the foundation for achieving its global long-term vision.
Furthermore, it is expected to contribute to developing the logistics industry in the region as the company will be able to introduce Korea’s high tech logistics service solutions in the ASEAN region.
A Korea Eximbank official said, "We will continue to diversify funding channels and provide various financial solutions for Korean companies by utilizing our extensive global networks including the one with CGIF." She added "Since overseas logistics businesses would contribute to opening up export markets for Korean exporters, we will scale up our assistance by providing a comprehensive financial support package, composed of a wide array of financial products available to us such as loans, guarantees and swaps."