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An artist`s rendition of a metro station in Panama that will be built by a South Korean consortium led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. (Hyundai E&C) |
Citibank Korea said Monday it had become the sole coordinator for a consortium led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction in dealing with syndicated bonds worth a total $2 billion to build a metro line in Panama.
The US-based bank’s Korean subsidiary will become a part of a syndicate including the Korea Export-Import Bank and the Korea Trade Insurance Corp. that plans to purchase trade receivables from the consortium under the guarantee of the Panamanian government.
The partnership is expected to contribute to structured financing and help the consortium smoothly carry out its goal to build a 25-kilometer metro line in Panama City.
The financial institutions participating in the project believe that the latest deal will contribute to the progress in Korea’s environmental, social and governance values and green financing.
The completion of the metro line in Panama is projected to cut back an annual 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions according to Citibank Korea.
Early last year, a consortium of Hyundai E&C, Posco Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Engineering clinched a construction deal worth some $2.8 billion to build a metro line connecting Panama City to the capital’s west. The local builder said at the time the construction was expected to take 4 1/2 years.
“Citibank Korea is making efforts to aid South Korean firms to receive quality financing around the world based on our strong global network,” Citibank Korea CEO Yoo Myung-soon said in a statement.
“We will continue to make efforts in providing ESG financial solutions to local firms,” she added.
Citibank Korea, meanwhile, has been planning the exit of its consumer banking business, which it said would be announced this month. The process is part of its parent group Citigroup’s global consumer banking exit strategy announced earlier this year to focus on more viable markets.
Citibank Korea is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citibank Overseas Investment, based in the US state of Delaware. It was launched in 2004, decades after Citigroup opened its first branch here in 1967.
By Jung Min-kyung (
mkjung@heraldcorp.com)
