Woori Financial sets up infrastructure fund to promote New Deal project

Woori Financial Group said Wednesday that it has set up a 200 billion won ($180 million) fund to invest in social infrastructure projects, called the “Woori Global Infra New Deal Fund.” 

In September the government announced its New Deal Fund, a state-led fund worth 20 trillion won aimed at investing in tech and green sectors, including artificial intelligence, renewable energy and hydrogen vehicles, through money pooled from government agencies, private financial institutions and individual investors. Woori is the first local financial institution to launch such a fund, officials said.

Designed to finance the development of smart logistics centers and traffic facilities as well as eco-friendly social infrastructure, the fund will first invest in a tech-based logistics center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, they said. 

The group’s banking subsidiaries Woori Bank and Woori Investment Bank will serve as the fund’s investors, while Woori Global Asset Management and Woori Fund Services are responsible for fund management and administrative affairs, the firm said. 

“Responding to the ongoing paradigm shift to a digital and pro-environment economy, Woori Financial has arranged the Infra New Deal Fund. We will ramp up efforts to promote the government’s New Deal policy drives,” an official said.

By Choi Jae-hee (cjh@heraldcorp.com)