Exim Bank chief visits Honam semiconductor firms, pledges support for AI ecosystem

The Export-Import Bank of Korea is stepping up financial support to cultivate the semiconductor ecosystem in the Honam region. Bank President Hwang Ki-yeon visited semiconductor-related companies in Gwangju and Yeosu to review their capital investment plans and financing needs.

The bank said Thursday that Hwang visited Amkor Technology Korea, a Gwangju-based semiconductor packaging and testing specialist, and Jaewon Industrial, a semiconductor chemical materials company in Yeosu.

The visits were a follow-up field trip under the bank's "AX Special Program," launched earlier this year. Through the program, the bank plans to provide 20 trillion won ($14.6 billion) in financing across the AI value chain over the next five years, while offering preferential interest rates and other support to small and midsize enterprises that supply AI-sector conglomerates or expand overseas alongside them.

During the visits, Hwang expressed the bank's commitment to strengthening the global competitiveness of small and midsize enterprises tied to the AI industry and to nurturing an AI industrial ecosystem outside the Greater Seoul area.

Amkor Technology Korea, headquartered in Gwangju, specializes in outsourced semiconductor assembly and test, or OSAT, services for system semiconductors. The Amkor group holds the second-largest position in the global OSAT market, behind Taiwan's ASE.

"Rising demand for AI semiconductor packaging and testing has led us to consider additional capital investment, including the construction of new factories," said Amkor Technology Korea CEO Lee Jin-an. "We hope the Export-Import Bank will serve as a key partner in supporting the growth of the semiconductor ecosystem."

"We will strengthen tailored financial support to ensure the semiconductor ecosystem develops the global competitiveness it needs," Hwang said.

Hwang then traveled to Yeosu to visit Jaewon Industrial, which produces advanced chemical materials — including high-purity solvents used in EUV semiconductor processes and conductive dispersions for secondary batteries — and counts Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Samsung SDI among its customers.

"Large-scale preemptive investment is essential in advanced strategic industries such as semiconductors and secondary batteries," said Jaewon Industrial CEO Shim Seong-won. "We hope the Export-Import Bank will serve as a strategic financial partner in fostering the semiconductor ecosystem."

Hwang responded by pledging that the bank would "actively support preemptive investment to strengthen the competitiveness of the semiconductor ecosystem."

Meanwhile, the bank is also working to establish a private equity and venture capital fund totaling 1.2 trillion won, to which it plans to contribute 300 billion won, to support the development of AI and other advanced strategic industries.