Samsung headquarters in Seoul’s Seocho district (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics Co. and five major financial holding firms in South Korea signed an agreement Tuesday on providing financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) transitioning their business operations and manufacturing processes into environmentally friendly ones.
Under the agreement, Samsung Electronics and the five financial holding firms — KB Financial, Shinhan Financial, Hana Financial, Woori Financial and NH Nonghyup Financial — will provide up to 2 trillion won (US$1.4 billion) in special low-interest rate loans to small businesses seeking to invest in low-emission facilities, equipment or technologies, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
To this end, Samsung Electronics will make a 1 trillion-won deposit, whose interest income will be used to help lower the rates for the loans to be provided, according to the FSS.
The financial regulator explained this would help lower the interest rate on fresh loans to small businesses by up to 1 percentage point, or up to 2 percentage points should their planned investment qualify for existing support under the local green taxonomy.
The move comes amid rising costs for businesses due to clean energy and climate-related requirements, with the European Union set to implement its new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) at the start of 2026, likely putting additional costs on local exporters.
The financial support program is expected to help reduce South Korea’s carbon emissions by up to 850,000 tons annually, the FSS said.
“It is also expected to help SMEs to each save up to 90 million won a year in additional costs that can be imposed when the EU’s CBAM is implemented,” it added.
(Yonhap)
