Korea Development Bank chairman Hong Ky-ttak on Thursday pledged to carry out stronger support for small and medium-sized enterprises, asking them to reinforce creativity and innovation in entrepreneurship.

“The Korean economy is facing challenges with low growth, which makes stronger support for the promising SMEs more compelling than ever,” Hong said in the state-run policy bank’s Business Leaders Forum.

He also urged the business leaders to join hands in pursuing creativity and innovation in entrepreneurship, to invigorate the local market and national economy.

The BLF was attended by CEOs of KDB’s top 60 clientele from Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area, who flocked to the financial event to share KDB’s know-how and knowledge on “turnaround consulting programs” and “KDB techno banking intellectual property financing.”

KDB’s turnaround consulting program refers to a preemptive consulting program that reports potential financial risks, such as sales stagnation and decrease in profit, and uprooting the problematic factors before facing losses.

Intellectual property financing, or the use of trademarks, design rights, patents, copyrights and other intellectual property assets to gain access to credit, has been gaining increasing attention in the financial and IP circles.

Later at the forum, Nomura Financial Investment Korea senior economist Kwon Young-sun delivered a lecture on global economic outlook and Korea’s economic forecast. Professor Kim Sang-geun of Yonsei University’s lecture on the renaissance of creative management also drew fervent attention from the business leaders.

Following the BLF, Hong took a guided tour of Celltrion, a KOSDAQ-listed biopharmaceutical company supported by KDB’s program.

Celltrion’s Remsina, a white powder for treating rheumatoid arthritis and adult Crohn’s disease, was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2013. The world’s first biosimilar monoclonal antibody is expecting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within the year, according to the KDB.

After being briefed on Celltrion’s visions and challenges for global expansion, the KDB chairman vowed stronger support for the company’s goal of becoming the global forerunner of biopharmaceuticals, which he dubbed “the future breadbasket industry.”

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)