Korea Development Bank Opens 'Seonamgwon Financial Center' "Efforts for Seonamgwon Development"

On the 3rd, Korea Development Bank announced that it held the opening ceremony of the 'Southwest Investment Finance Center' on the 5th floor of the Korea Development Bank Gwangju Branch building. About 40 people attended the opening ceremony, including the Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, the Vice Chairman of the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the President of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, and heads of local governments and related organizations.

The Korea Development Bank Southwest Investment Finance Center will serve as an investment finance hub for the southwest region, promoting balanced regional development based on supporting the expansion of the domestic venture ecosystem centered on the metropolitan area and the expansion of industrial infrastructure. The southwest region has a high proportion of aging industrial complexes and an industrial structure centered on traditional industries (automobiles, steel, petrochemicals, etc.). KDB believes that to expand innovative growth engines in the southwest, it is essential to discover regional innovative companies and support industrial structural transformation such as low-carbon and smartization.

Accordingly, through the Southwest Investment Finance Center, KDB plans to build an organic cooperative network with local governments and related organizations to create a venture and startup innovation ecosystem covering the entire Honam region including Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk, and strengthen financial support for strategic industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), future vehicles, secondary batteries, as well as green and digital transformation of regional industries.

Korea Development Bank building. Photo by Moon Honam

KDB has been striving for regional economic development and securing growth engines by operating special funds for fostering region-specific industries and regional economic renaissance. As part of these efforts, it established the Southeast Investment Finance Center in Busan last year. To expand the successful model of the Southeast Investment Finance Center throughout the southern region, KDB established the Southern Investment Finance Headquarters last September, incorporating the existing Southeast Investment Finance Center, and newly set up the Southwest Investment Finance Center and the Regional Enterprise Comprehensive Support Center to establish an independent comprehensive financial support system across the entire southern region.

As the first step to announce the opening of the Southwest Investment Finance Center, KDB plans to conduct an 'Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Practical Training Program' on the 4th for executives and employees of client companies in the Gwangju and Honam regions. KDB Chairman Kang Seok-hoon stated, “For Korea’s leap forward and the creation of a sustainable local era, the southwest region must become a new axis of national economic growth. In this process, Korea Development Bank and the Southwest Investment Finance Center will do their utmost to promote the development of the southwest regional economy and enhance economic vitality.”