Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon said Friday that Korea would need to reshape its financial environment to allow small and medium-size enterprises to expand overseas, even though earlier attempts have failed.

In a seminar for members of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the FSC chief stressed that a convergence between finance and manufacturing in the economy is necessary for sustainable growth.

Shin said that the financial industry has not been doing its part, and will need to boost its corporate financing services to back Korea’s SMEs and start-ups that have failed in attempts to expand overseas.

He suggested that both private and public financial companies in Korea should push efforts to increase their overseas networks, while calling on policy banks to boost their support of SMEs and start-ups.

State-run financial institutions should seek ways to diversify their support mechanisms, the FSC chairman said, adding that they should not only guarantee SME loans but also SME bonds.

The FSC chief also urged the financial industry to come up with better statistics data analyzing SME demands for credit, finances and other capital needs for their technology development and expansion.

Financial Supervisory Service gov. Choi Soo-hyun called on the nation’s financial industry to advance its business by reshaping its conventional business practices.

Korea’s major financial firms have been excessively dependent on interest income from domestic consumers, the chief regulator said in his meeting with the chiefs of seven major financial groups last July.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)