S. Korea to create 3 tln-won fund for builders' overseas push

SEJONG, April 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will create a 3 trillion-won (US$2.6 billion) fund to help local construction companies expand overseas, the finance minister said Wednesday, in the latest move to help boost the country's sagging exports. Hong Nam-ki, the minister of economy and finance, said the government will chip in 150 billion won and that 10 public companies will invest 450 billion won for the first phase of the fund worth 1.5 trillion won. The government did not provide a specific time frame for when the second phase of the fund will be created. The Export-Import Bank of Korea, one of South Korea's state-run policy lenders; pension funds; and private investors will inject 900 billion won into the fund, according to the finance ministry. The government plans to designate the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corp. as the manager of the fund. The fund could pave the way for South Korean companies to join about 80 investment and development projects, the ministry said without elaborating. The fund is the latest in a series of South Korean efforts to boost exports. South Korea's exports declined 8.2 percent in March from a year earlier, marking the fourth straight month that outbound shipments have fallen on a yearly basis. entropy@yna.co.kr (END)