Chairman Kim Jong-ho of Kibo "Focused Support for Companies in Eco-friendly, Low-carbon, and New Energy Industries"

Listening to Corporate Challenges at the Frontline of Carbon Neutrality

Kim Jong-ho, Chairman of the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (right), is exchanging opinions on core carbon neutrality technologies with Lee Soo-tae, CEO of Panasia (center).

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Korea Technology Finance Corporation (Kibo) announced on the 9th that Chairman Kim Jong-ho visited Panasia (CEO Lee Soo-tae), a global eco-friendly energy equipment specialist located in Gangseo-gu, Busan, to listen to and communicate about the difficulties in promoting carbon neutrality.

This visit was arranged to mark the first anniversary of the government's carbon neutrality vision declaration, to communicate with leading companies striving for carbon neutrality and quality job creation, and to hear industry field opinions on difficulties in realizing carbon neutrality.

Panasia is an energy specialist company that has completed the development of core technologies accelerating carbon neutrality, such as hydrogen extractors and carbon capture, utilization, and storage devices, and plans to commercialize them at hydrogen charging stations. It is a representative leading company in carbon neutrality recognized domestically and internationally for its technology and business viability, including being selected as one of the '100 Strong Small and Medium Enterprises in Materials, Parts, and Equipment' by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

CEO Lee Soo-tae of Panasia requested the establishment of a method to objectively and fairly measure greenhouse gas reduction amounts, which are key to carbon neutrality, and to provide financial support based on this. In response, Chairman Kim explained, "Kibo operates a green finance support system that discovers and intensively supports companies in eco-friendly, low-carbon, and new energy industries by developing a carbon value evaluation model that converts the greenhouse gas reduction effect of companies into monetary value and applying it to financial products," and said, "Recently, in active response to the government's carbon neutrality promotion policies such as the upward adjustment of national greenhouse gas reduction targets, we will support these efforts while proactively assisting to ensure that the industrial sector's burden from the carbon neutrality transition does not increase."

Kibo plans to discover and support innovative small and medium venture companies leading carbon neutrality, such as those possessing greenhouse gas reduction technologies, by utilizing the carbon value evaluation model and introducing a climate response guarantee, a carbon-neutrality-friendly financial product, supplying new guarantees worth 450 billion KRW in 2022.