Hana Financial Group announced on September 25 (local time) that it visited the headquarters of the Saudi Export-Import Bank (Saudi EXIM) and the Saudi National Development Fund (NDF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and signed a business agreement with Saudi EXIM to expand cooperation projects in the Middle East region.
This is the first business agreement between Saudi EXIM and a domestic private financial company, and it was triggered by Saudi EXIM Chairman Saad Al-Khalb's visit to Saudi Arabia in December last year and a proposal for cooperation with Hana Bank during a business meeting.
Under the MOU, which was signed in the presence of Hana Financial Group Vice Chairman Lee Eun-hyung, Saudi Export-Import Bank Chairman Saad Al-Khalb, and Korean Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Park Joon-yong, the two banks plan to strengthen cooperation in various areas, including jointly identifying global projects in the Middle East, providing funding and credit lines to the bank's global network, and providing financial solutions and know-how to companies in both countries.
Prior to the signing ceremony, Hana Financial Group visited Saudi Arabia's NDF, which has been promoting the country's internal development through banks and funds, and met with executives including Abdulelah Alnemr, deputy governor of the Saudi National Development Fund, to mutually share key business issues and visions related to "Saudi Vision 2030" and to discuss various collaboration plans, including participation in joint business and investment.
Hana Financial Group, which has the largest number of channels in the Middle East among Korean financial companies, is expected to strengthen the foundation of cooperation between the two countries and provide differentiated financing to companies planning to expand into the Middle East through the establishment of a network with the Saudi financial authorities and a business agreement with a local export credit agency.
"As cooperation between Korea and Saudi Arabia continues to expand in various fields, I am pleased and grateful that through this visit, we were able to meet each other's true partners in finance," said Lee Eun-hyung, Vice Chairman of Hana Financial Group. "As Hana Financial Group has been one of the first to support and encourage companies entering the Middle East in the 70s, we will continue to do our best to provide financial support to Korean companies to help them create the second and third Middle East boom."
