The Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) and KOTRA signed an MOU on May 16 at the JW Marriot Hotel in downtown Seoul to speed up the globalization of Korean financial investment firms as well as cross-border M&As for Korean SMEs abroad, the two business associations said recently.

The two groups agreed that domestic investment firms should break out of the domestic mold and globalize their operations in order to generate new business overseas. But results have been lackluster so far due to a lack of information, high expenses, and other factors, so few businesses have been able to take on overseas projects including investments.

Under the MOU, KOTRA’s overseas network will be taken advantage of by financial investment firms to invest overseas by eliminating or removing various legal and systematic barriers, the lack of information, and risk factors, and by utilizing the one-stop service provided by KOFIA in strengthening their overseas business bases further.

KOTRA has been working on global technology cooperation and M&As to help SMEs overcome their growth limits by securing core technologies from overseas.

The MOU is hoped to clear the way for SMEs to build cooperative systems between the financial and trade sectors and secure greater access to financing in international transactions, making a huge contribution to balanced growth between organic and inorganic sectors of Korean businesses. 

More specifically, the MOU has been designed to expand the overseas operations of domestic financial firms and activate global M&As for SMEs.

The signatories will form a consultation unit each consisting of more than two people to generate synergy between the two signees of the MOU and the development of new joint businesses.

The partners will invigorate information gathering and market surveying at home and abroad through their respective networks including the domestic securities firms and asset management firms and KOTRA’s vast overseas network to help domestic SMEs boost their global operational capacities.

In a nutshell, the two signatories will use their knowledge and experiences to the hilt to help domestic financial firms strengthen their international competitiveness.

The MOU is also designed to provide support to domestic investment firms and manufacturers to cooperate with one another and build a cooperative infrastructure for the development of the financial investment industry.

The MOU is so drawn up to lead to the creation of synergy from binding KOTRA’s professional know-how on supporting Korean businesses launching their overseas operations, along with KOFIA’s knowledge of the Korean financial investment industry.