Council convenes at BIFC with 40 officials from 23 institutions in finance, shipping and shipbuilding; credit guarantee fund, Shinhan Bank and Korea P&I Club join for first time

The inaugural ceremony of the Busan Marine Finance Development Council in 2025 [Busan city government]
The inaugural ceremony of the Busan Marine Finance Development Council in 2025 [Busan city government]

Busan city held the first regular meeting of the Busan Marine Finance Development Council under the current city administration Tuesday afternoon, gathering officials to discuss strategies for developing the city's marine finance sector and review cooperation among related institutions. The meeting took place on the 22nd floor of Busan International Finance Center II (BIFC II).

About 40 officials attended, representing major marine finance institutions — including the Marine Finance Comprehensive Center, which comprises Korea Development Bank, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea — as well as the Korea Ocean Business Corporation, Busan Bank, the Korea Shipowners' Association, the Korea Shipping Association, the Korea Small Shipbuilding Industry Cooperative, the Korea Maritime Institute and Korea Maritime University.

Three organizations joined the council for the first time: the Credit Guarantee Fund's Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongnam regional office, Shinhan Bank's SOL Cluster Busan branch and the Korea Shipowners' Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association (Korea P&I Club).

The meeting covered the city administration's marine finance policy direction, introductions of the newly participating institutions, expert research presentations and open discussion. Ko Byeong-uk, a research fellow at the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), presented on marine finance development strategies for achieving the current administration's vision of Busan as a maritime capital. Son Seung-tae, head of management strategy at KDX, then discussed the company's fractional investment distribution platform and explored how fractional investment could be linked to marine finance.

This year, the council expanded from four working groups to five with the addition of a new shipping industry group, strengthening ties with the maritime industry. The new group will bring together private companies from across shipping brokerage, asset management, investment, insurance and fractional investment to share the financial needs of the industry and identify new areas for collaboration.

Meanwhile, the council traces its origins to a marine finance consultative body formed in 2018. It incorporated the Busan Marine Finance Week in 2021, then rebranded as the Busan Marine Finance Development Council last year and held its first regular meeting in July of that year.

Busan city said it expects broader participation from credit guarantee, commercial banking and shipowners' mutual insurance institutions — alongside the existing policy finance bodies — to strengthen the cooperative foundation of the city's marine finance ecosystem. The city plans to use the council as a platform for sharing information among marine finance institutions and identifying concrete collaboration projects linking finance with shipping, investment, asset management, insurance and fractional investment.

"For Busan to emerge as a maritime capital and a global hub for marine finance, close coordination with the shipping and shipbuilding industries — not just financial institutions — is essential," said Lee Dong-yeop, the city's director of finance and startup policy. "We will use the newly established shipping industry group as a focal point to reflect the voices of diverse private companies, bridge the maritime industry with finance, and deliver tangible results."


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