The Industrial Bank of Korea will open an office in Poland in the first half of this year as part of its overseas expansion into the European market, the state-run lender said Monday.

On Jan. 24, the company submitted a license approval application for the Polish office to local financial supervisory authorities.

The establishment of the Polish office, which had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, is one of the priority items under IBK Chairman Kim Seong-tae's strategy to strengthen global business competitiveness.

"This is the first overseas business since Chairman Kim took office last month," an official from the Industrial Bank of Korea said.

"We also plan to speed up the transition of sales organizations."

Wroclaw, the new location of their Polish office, is considered to be the largest industrial city and logistics center in southern Poland. A new hub for producing electric vehicle batteries in Europe, Korean companies such as LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation have also stablished production centers in the city.

In order to facilitate smooth work, such as meeting with supervisory authorities and holding consultations with companies entering the market, an IBK executive in charge of the firm's global business visited Poland in person, the IBK press release said.