Ham Young-joo, chairman of Hana Financial Group, said true productive finance can only be achieved when the financial sector can support not only advanced industries but also root industries and small and medium-sized manufacturers.
Hana Financial Group said Wednesday that Ham made the remarks at a seminar on "Revitalizing Productive Finance" co-hosted by the Hana Institute of Finance, the Korea Institute of Finance, and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.
In his congratulatory address, Ham stressed, "The industrial ecosystem is rapidly changing toward technology-centered industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), data, and energy," adding, "Financial policy and industrial policy must be closely connected as core pillars of the national growth strategy." He continued, "The private financial sector must also approach this not simply as a means of providing funds but from the perspective of designing a new industrial ecosystem," adding, "Along with efforts to deepen understanding of various industrial policies, properly evaluating the value of companies with growth potential and helping them through every stage of starting, growing, innovating, and taking new leaps forward is the role of true finance."
Ham also said productive finance should not be confined to specific industries such as semiconductors and AI. "Productive finance is completed when it is combined with inclusive finance that encompasses not only advanced industries but also root industries and small and medium-sized manufacturers," he said. "Hana Financial will strengthen the role of private finance by expanding productive finance."
At the seminar, key agenda items included the role of finance in industrial transformation and innovative growth, methods of cooperation between policy finance and private finance, and directions for redesigning the support system for national advanced strategic industries.
Meanwhile, Hana Financial has finalized its productive finance supply scale for this year at 17.8 trillion won, an increase of 1.6 trillion won from its original plan, and is rapidly executing the funds. The group is fostering national strategic industries through the National Growth Fund, investment in advanced industries, venture capital supply, and lending support, and is also promoting the cultivation of productive finance specialists based on cooperation with the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.
