Woori Financial Group said on Tuesday it will create a 200 billion won "Woori National Growth Matching Fund" to support the successful formation of the National Growth Fund, becoming the first in the financial sector to do so.

This year, the National Growth Fund aims to raise a total of 7 trillion won in indirect investment funding. Of that, it plans to raise 5.5 trillion won from private finance.

Woori Financial earlier decided to participate in private financing for the National Growth Fund with 10 trillion won over five years. It plans to invest about 400 billion won in sub-funds this year and, as a first step, will pre-emptively create the 200 billion won Woori National Growth Matching Fund to speed up participation in the National Growth Fund.

The fund will be fully financed by Woori Financial affiliates including Woori Bank, Woori Financial Capital and Woori Investment & Securities, without relying on outside investors. It plans to supply funds to future strategic industries including broader industrial support, scale-up and ultra-long-term technologies.

Woori Asset Management, an affiliate of Woori Financial, submitted a proposal to apply to become a commissioned general partner for the National Growth Fund’s fiscal master fund in the indirect investment area, which will manage fiscal contributions and work with the Korea Development Bank to select sub-fund managers. Woori PE and Woori Venture Partners also plan to apply for selection as sub-fund managers, and the group plans to boost synergy among affiliates to enable rapid matching investments and act as a catalyst for fund formation.

Hye-bin Park (박혜빈), a team leader at Woori Bank’s Productive Finance Investment Department, said, "This 'Woori National Growth Matching Fund' is significant in that it is the first in the financial sector to provide seed funding so that the government-led National Growth Fund can successfully take root in the market."