Woori Financial Group's October Advanced Strategic Industry Finance Council

Future Co-Growth Project reaches 38.5% of five-year target in first year

Woori Financial Group held its October Advanced Strategic Industry Finance Council at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday, chaired by Chairman Lim Jong-ryong (center). [Woori Financial Group]
Woori Financial Group held its October Advanced Strategic Industry Finance Council at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday, chaired by Chairman Lim Jong-ryong (center). [Woori Financial Group]

Woori Financial Group has supplied 35 trillion won ($26.4 billion) in productive and inclusive finance over the past year through its Future Co-Growth Project, with Chairman Lim Jong-ryong urging subsidiary CEOs to keep expanding the supply.

Woori Financial Group announced Wednesday that it held its October Advanced Strategic Industry Finance Council at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday, chaired by Lim with the heads of major affiliates in attendance.

The meeting reviewed progress under the Future Co-Growth Project. Woori Financial Group launched the initiative in September last year, pledging to supply 80 trillion won in productive and inclusive finance over five years. In June this year, the group raised the target to 90 trillion won, adding 9.4 trillion won in productive finance and 600 billion won in inclusive finance to the original goal.

In the year since the project's launch, the group supplied a total of 34.7 trillion won — 33.3 trillion won in productive finance and 1.4 trillion won in inclusive finance — equivalent to 38.5 percent of the five-year target.

In the productive finance lending segment, the group as a whole supplied 27.2 trillion won from January through September this year, far exceeding the annual target of 18.4 trillion won.

Of the 26.6 trillion won supplied by Woori Bank, more than half — 13.4 trillion won — went to small and medium-sized enterprises, with 5.1 trillion won of that directed to SMEs based outside the capital region.

In the investment segment, 1.9 trillion won was deployed from January through September this year.

The National Growth Fund, in which affiliates including the bank's investment banking unit, securities, capital and insurance arms all participated, channeled more than 500 billion won this year alone into projects such as the Sinan Ui offshore wind farm, Samsung Electronics' semiconductor facility in Pyeongtaek, and AI chipmaker Rebellions.

Last month, the group decided to provide project financing for the development of the Pohang AI Factory data center in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, with all affiliates, including Woori Bank, taking part.

"This is a model case for the Future Co-Growth Project — affiliates working together to deliver the best financial solution and ensure the project moves forward quickly and smoothly," a Woori Financial Group official said. "We will consistently build on cases like this."

On the inclusive finance side, the group has disbursed 2.8 trillion won of its 3.5 trillion won supply target through September, accelerating support for vulnerable groups.

Woori Bank's Saeheuimang Hollssi loan — a flagship retail finance product — extended 652 billion won from January through September, the largest amount in the banking sector. Through a 7 percent annual interest rate cap on personal credit loans introduced in January, about 90,000 customers received a combined 3.7 billion won in interest relief.

The council also discussed management priorities for next year. For productive finance, the group said it would manage not only the overall supply volume but also a broader range of structural indicators — including loan balances by industry, the share going to small and regional businesses, and reliance on collateral and guarantees.

For inclusive finance, the group said it would support the genuine recovery of vulnerable borrowers through measures such as writing off delinquent debt and linking financial assistance to employment and welfare services.

Chairing the meeting, Lim told subsidiary CEOs: "If the past year was about doing everything we could to get funds to where they were needed at the right time, we should now build on that confidence — draw up next year's plans in a way that drives structural change in our supply, including a greater share going to small businesses and regional borrowers."

On inclusive finance, Lim added: "Let us keep sincerely expanding the supply of inclusive finance in ways that customers can genuinely feel."


hyuk@heraldcorp.com