Chairman and CEO Lee Duk-hoon of the Export-Import Bank of Korea, center, holds the copy of the MOU signed with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China led by President Yi Huiman, L, and the Chartered Bank of South Africa led by Global Head Robert Cleasby, R, on cooperation among the three banks, which paves the way for Korean firms to operate in Africa.(Photo:Eximbank)

The Export and Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) signed a trilateral tie-up agreement with the Standard Chartered Bank of South Africa and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), paving the way for cooperation among the three banks.

Chairman and President Lee Duk-hoon of the Korea Eximbank joined Global Head Robert Cleasby of the South African bank and President Yi Huiman of the Chinese bank in signing the agreement on Sept. 14 at the Korea Eximbank’s head office in Seoul.

The agreement provides opportunities for the three banks to cooperate in such areas as project financing, investment banking, trade financing, sharing financial information on the supply of funds and the provision of non-financial services including financial consultations, officials of the Korea Eximbank said.

They said the Korean companies will be able to participate in infrastructural projects in Africa getting financial support from the three banks. The Eximbank will have the chance to cooperate with the Chinese bank to jointly provide support to the Korean and Chinese companies to undertake joint infrastructural projects in Africa. The Chinese bank intends to expand its global operations by broadening its presence in Africa.

The Korea Eximbank will be able to get the support from the Standard Chartered Bank of South Africa, in which the Chinese bank holds a majority stake, taking advantage of the SC bank’s extensive network in Africa that consists of 20 branches located all over the continent. The Eximbank will be able to get information on African countries’ financial systems, regulations and the financial markets from the SC bank, which also can act as the windows for the Korean companies operating on the continent.

CEO Lee said Eximbank has been doing all it can to back up Korean firms overseas at a time when projects related to petroleum are down and scarce due to the quick fall in oil prices. They are doing so by helping them find projects in the non-oil areas, including infrastructure construction projects and other strategic projects by providing them with financial support.

He continued, saying that the SC bank in South Africa is one of the largest banks in the continent and the Korean firms could get its help in finding projects preemptively based on the agreement signed by the three banks on cooperation.

Africa is the largest and the biggest emerging market in the world with great potential for future growth, but so far the Korean firms have not been able to successfully crack it open due to its certainty and weak economic structure. China, however, has been doing all it can to open up the continent for the Chinese business firms by investing in the exploration of natural resources and providing aids to some of the poor nations on the continent allowing the Chinese firms to secure various projects mostly those related to the construction of infrastructure.

ICBC took over a 20 percent stake in the SC Bank Group of South Africa in 2008.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) is a Chinese multinational banking company, and the largest bank in the world by total assets and by market capitalization. It is one of China's 'Big Four' state-owned commercial banks (the other three being the Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank). It was founded as a limited company on January 1, 1984. As of March 2014, it had assets of $3.32 trillion. It is generally considered the largest bank in the world by assets; it is the first Chinese bank to achieve such a feat. It ranks number 1 in The Banker's Top 1000 World Banks ranking and number 1 on Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's biggest public companies.

The SC Bank's history in South Africa dates back to 1862 from our previous shareholding in Standard Bank of British South Africa. In 1969 the Bank merged its two shareholdings in Standard Bank of South Africa and Chartered Bank of India to create the consolidated brand, 'Standard Chartered Bank'. In 1987 Standard Chartered divested from South Africa in support of the call for change, but later returned as an independent entity with a representative office in 1992.