IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea will create a joint fund worth 700 billion won to support the growth of promising small, midsize and venture companies.

The three banks said on Sept. 7 they had announced an investment programme for the Policy Financial Institutions Global Scale-up Cooperation Fund.

The programme is the first joint cooperation project of the Policy Financial Institutions Council, launched on March 27 to expand productive finance and identify joint cooperation projects.

The three institutions plan to jointly invest 150 billion won each, for a total of 450 billion won, and add private money to create a 700 billion won fund.

The fund will consist of 3 parts: 1 large and 2 medium-sized. It will be used to support company scale-ups, including by supplying growth capital to small, midsize and venture firms and supporting overseas expansion.

The three institutions have jointly discussed the fund formation method, eligible recipients and the implementation schedule to 추진 the project.

Proposals will be accepted until Sept. 30. After a joint review, the institutions plan to make a final selection of the entrusted fund manager in November.

An IBK official said, "Based on cooperation among policy financial institutions, we will respond to promising companies' funding needs by stage of growth." The official added, "We will expand our role in the venture capital market and support the expansion of new growth engines."