President Cho Joon-hee of the Industrial Bank of Korea won the Korea Financial Grand Award 2012, which is also known as the Financial Man of the Year Award, in recognition of his contribution to the financial industry.  The Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Maeil Business Newspaper selected the recipient of the award, the top award in the financial industry, as they do every year.

The award ceremony was held on Dec. 3 at the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Chosun Hotel during the 2012 year-end party for the people of the financial industry. 

IBK has been pushing globalization under a strategy designed to set up a global belt in Asia and to expand its operations to other continents. The bank’s major aim is to set up bases in those key strategic regions to provide support to SMEs struggling to advance overseas by securing cooperative networks with local banks.

On Sept. 11, the bank said it has decided to diversify its routes to open up overseas financial markets for SMEs in order to help them get set up in key foreign countries. The critical part of the strategy involves IBK concluding MOUs with local banks in countries where SMEs have a hard time entering due to tough regulations and other reasons and to make financial support accessible for them locally.

For an initial step in that direction, IBK will sign an MOU with the Bank of Australia in October as the nation emerged as a promising corporate and individual financial market for Korean banks with many Korean firms doing business in such areas as natural resources exploration, including coal and iron ore mining, and personnel loans for Korean students, immigrants, and business people.

The bank also has been taking steps to conclude MOUs with banks in South Africa, Turkey, Myanmar, and others, preceded by MOUs with BRI Bank in Indonesia, ENBD Bank in the United Arab Emirates, and Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in Germany and the second largest in the world in terms of assets with over 3,000 outlets in over 70 countries. IBK also has been spurring its moves to set up a regional financial network in East Asia, with China and Vietnam in the center of the financial link and India and Indonesia in the periphery, among emerging economies in Asia.

Indonesia is in the center of IBK’s strategy as some 2,400 Korean firms run businesses in that country with another 800 new businesses launching their operations. CEO Cho travelled to the Southeast Asian country himself and signed MOUs with a number of local banks so that Korean firms doing business in that country can borrow loans with guarantees issued by IBK.

IBK will expand its operations in China to the western and inland parts of the country as well as the southern part of Vietnam by setting up banking outlets in those regions. Before this year is out, the bank plans to open a rep office in New Delhi, India, and later upgrade it to a branch. IBK currently operates 16 banking outlets overseas including nine financial outlets, five branches, two rep offices, and a local subsidiary in China as a step to further globalize its operations.