With the Expansion of Vaccinations, Overseas Management by Financial Sector Leaders Gets a 'Green Light'
Bang Moon-kyu, President of the Korea Eximbank
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Bang Moon-kyu, President of the Export-Import Bank of Korea, is embarking on his first overseas business trip since taking office. As COVID-19 vaccinations expand, restrictions on overseas field management by financial sector leaders have also been lifted.
According to the financial sector on the 16th, President Bang will depart for a business trip to the Middle East this week. Detailed schedules related to the trip are currently being coordinated. The Export-Import Bank of Korea's Dubai office will support President Bang's local activities during this visit to Dubai and Jordan. The purpose of the trip is to provide financial support to facilitate smooth progress for Korean companies securing overseas construction orders in the Middle East region.
This is President Bang's first overseas business trip since his inauguration on November 1, 2019, after one and a half years. Due to the nature of the Export-Import Bank president's role as a strong financial supporter for export-import and overseas investment companies, overseas trips are frequent. It is rare for a president like Bang to have not traveled abroad for over a year after taking office. Having completed his COVID-19 vaccination, President Bang is likely to actively resume overseas trips starting with this Middle East visit. There is a backlog of overseas duties, including assisting domestic companies' overseas expansion and supporting economic cooperation funds for developing countries abroad.
Overseas Business Trips by Financial Sector Leaders to Resume from Second Half of the Year
There is a forecast that overseas field management by financial sector leaders will also become active from the second half of the year. Since May 5, our government has exempted domestic and foreign nationals who have completed COVID-19 vaccination and passed two weeks from mandatory self-quarantine upon re-entry after traveling abroad. Recently, vaccination rates among financial sector leaders have been increasing.
Currently, Lee Ju-yeol, Governor of the Bank of Korea, Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, as well as chairpersons and bank presidents of the four major financial holding companies and heads of various financial industry associations have either already been vaccinated or are scheduled to be vaccinated soon. Various global events that were regularly held overseas but temporarily halted due to the spread of COVID-19 are showing signs of normalization in the second half of the year as vaccination spreads. Additionally, the demand for overseas expansion by domestic financial companies is growing, making overseas business trips by financial sector leaders essential.
Governor Lee Ju-yeol of the Bank of Korea is planning to attend the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting scheduled to be held in Venice, Italy, in early July. Kim Kwang-soo, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, is also considering attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) Annual Meetings scheduled for October in Washington, D.C., USA.
A financial sector official said, "From the second half of this year, overseas business trips by financial sector leaders will become active. In the case of the IMF and WB Annual Meetings, it is common for financial holding company chairpersons to attend together, so if the face-to-face meeting in Washington in October is confirmed, it is necessary to keep open the possibility that vaccinated financial sector leaders will attend together."
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