Industrial Bank of Korea chief executive Cho Jun-hee said his bank will open offices or ink deals for cooperation with banks on all six continents by the end of this year to support Korean companies doing business overseas.

“We will build a network across all six continents by the end of December to financially assist small and medium-sized companies,” Cho said in a meeting with reporters Wednesday evening.

“We plan to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Bank of China within this year so it can cover matters that can’t be handled by IBK in China.”

Next month, IBK is set to open an office in New Delhi and sign an MOU with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group as a number of Korean companies are involved in natural resource development in Australia, which has large reserves of iron and coal.

Having inked a similar agreement with Germany’s Deutsche Bank early this month, IBK is also in talks to sign more of such MOUs with banks in Indonesia, Myanmar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Spain and South Africa.

Cho said IBK does not plan to open more offices in Japan, where it has one branch in Tokyo.

IBK also sends middle-management staff abroad to work in foreign banks as part of mid- to long-term preparations for future mergers and acquisitions overseas.

Cho refrained from commenting on the ongoing prosecutorial investigation into a trading firm that allegedly withdrew 1.9 trillion won ($1.7 billion) from the Central Bank of Iran’s account at IBK. IBK stopped transactions through the account in August, after receiving the report in July.

Cho said IBK was trying to revise its interest rate system so it is acceptable for customers.

“Lowering the interest rate would obviously pull down our profitability, but the problem has to be fixed at some point,” he said.

About the ongoing talk among politicians and Woori Bank to help the “house poor,” or people struggling to pay off their mortgage loans due to falling home prices, Cho said he had no comment, but added that there should be some consideration for those who have never bought a house.

IBK on Wednesday gave reporters a tour of its new training center in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, where SMEs can hold workshops and where the participants of the 2013 World Rowing Championships, to be held in Chungju, will stay.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)