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social well-being. To fulfll our social respon- sibilities, we are promoting ways to grow and thrive with our customers. For example, we created a Social Responsibility Management Committee last February. In particular, our focus has been on supporting SMEs (Small - and Medium-sized Enterprises), and we have created a special unit dedicated to promoting that goal. Recently, there has been a government ini- tiative to encourage Korean banks to fnd synergy with SMEs. Can you refect on how Shinhan is working to support SMEs in Ko- rea? Since the very beginning, Shinhan has made a constant efort to discover blue-chip SMEs and provide fnancial support for them. I be- lieve those eforts have worked as a driving force that has enabled Shinhan to survive sev- eral fnancial crises in Korea’s past. Te gov- ernment is currently seeking ways to promote little-known but highly successful small com- panies, or “Hidden Champions”, as the gov- ernment calls them. To make this happen, we need to create an environment where busi- nesses can grow and promote ways to help competitive SMEs enjoy stable growth and sales. Shinhan is developing various plans and programs to achieve this. Currently, Shinhan has created two major plans that are being fne-tuned. Te frst plan will strengthen support for SMEs based on their stage of development. In other words, Shinhan will provide customized fnancial services to frms during the evolving stages of their progress, from incubation and launch to growth and then, perhaps, going global. Te second plan will help businesses recover from temporary setbacks by expanding circulating capital support and free consulting services. Specifcally, Shinhan has allocated 2.5 trillion won for facilities and operation of blue-chip companies, exporting businesses, technolo- gy frms, foreign investment companies and SMEs. Since last April, Shinhan has been working on allocating an additional 5.4 tril- lion won to expand our support for growing businesses and small but strong companies as they get established. To stimulate a creative and diverse economy, we are strengthening our fnancial support of SMEs that are committed to creating new technologies and innovations. In addition, we have created a “Shinhan Chal- lenger Start-up Corporations Loan” with low interest rates that feature a maximum of 0.5%. Tis service has been extended from compa- nies less than three years old to companies less than fve years old. As of late September of 2013, Shinhan has provided over 3.8 trillion won worth of fnan- cial support for SMEs, the most among fve major commercial banks in Korea (Industrial Bank of Korea). Can you provide some case studies of Shin- han’s supportive role in this regard? Yes, I’d be happy to. I’d like to refer to our ex- perience with helping a medium-sized solar energy and new renewable energy company based in Seoul. Te company’s main business was manufacturing and selling non-memory semiconductor and communications equip- ment. Afer its restructure in 2007, the com- pany recorded a net loss during the following three consecutive years. Te company man- aged to sign a 15 billion won contract with one of the major power plant companies in Korea and yet was rejected for acquiring ad- ditional loans for operations by its main bank due to their poor fnancial metrics. However, Shinhan positively evaluated its growth potential afer reviewing their coal dryer facilities and the distinctive technology in their sludge unit, and expediently provided them with innovative fnancial support. If not for that, the company would have sufered an even worse fate from the breach of their vital business contract. As a result, the company improved its fnancial structure well enough to become listed on the KOSDAQ in 2011. As demonstrated in this case, Shinhan con- tinues to support small- and medium-sized corporations who have distinctive and unique technologies, regardless of their poor fnan- cial balance sheets, and to further spread our management philosophy of “warm fnance”. Shinhan has launched a ‘Global Help Desk’ to support Korean SMEs seeking to engage in business in other countries. What’s the purpose of this? With many big corporations entering the global market, more and more domestic SMEs are also going global. Due to lack of experi- ence, however, small companies face many challenges and sometimes make mistakes. To address their needs, Shinhan launched the “Global Support Desk” last July. Tis program is designed to support companies by ofering professional fnancial guidance through 70 branches of Shinhan Financial Group, located in 15 countries. p e o p l e p e o p l e