중소기업의 수출보험 활용률 제고방안 모색

Abstract

Risks that occur across the range of management activities of Small-Medium (sized) Export Enterprises (SMEEs) are divided into underwriting risks, financial risks and operational risks. By definition, underwriting risks refer to those arising from the operation of export insurance business, financial risks are those that can occur in financial management, and operational risks are those involving clerical and system errors. Underwriting risks are classified into credit risks, which can be posed by the default of importers, exporters and importing nations, and foreign exchange risks, which may arise from the fluctuation of foreign exchange rates. Financial risks are divided into credit risks, liquidity risks and market risks. Credit risks may result from the bankruptcy of organizations where funds are deposited or organizations issuing bonds, while liquidity risks are those possibly arising from failures in responding to unexpected fund outflows. Market risks involve changes in values of investment assets. In 2008, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (KTIC) completed the launch of its Integrated Risk Management System whereby credit, market and operational risks alike can be comprehensively managed in a single system. The best practices of advanced financial institutions were benchmarked based on consultation with external professional agencies to fit into KTIC's working environment. This served as a basis for KTIC to further strengthen its company-wide systematic risk management. As for credit risks, the risk possibilities for the main stakeholders of exporters, importers and importing countries, based on which, expected losses, unexpected losses and risk concentration for each insurance type are calculated on a daily basis. Multi-faceted analyses of risk holders and insurance types are used to identify causes of credit risks. Meanwhile, as for market risks, the risk amounts are measured on a daily basis to measure risks from losses resulting from fluctuating interest rates and stock prices and are monitored accordingly. Lastly, liquidity risks are managed by calculating the adequate liquidity scale in a set confidence interval by factoring in the past errors between the planned and actual flows of funds. For operational risks, the Operational Risk Management System is used as a part of the Integrated Risk Management System to fully prevent operational risks by establishing management measures based on the Risk and Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) and the Key Risk Indicator (KRI). On the one hand, marine insurance is that which covers risks (marine risks) which could possibly occur during marine transportation, on the other hand, export insurance is non-profit and political insurance that seeks to promote a nation's exportsby compensating exporters, producers and exporter-finance-loan-banks for their unexpected loss due to commercial risks such as contract breach, bankruptcy, and payment delay or denial by importer, and political risks such as war, rebellion, and exchange transaction restriction by the importing country. Under the category of Medium and Long-Term transactions, KTIC has i) financial products to mostly support financing (Medium and Long-Term Export Credit Insurance, Overseas Business Credit Insurance, Export Bond Insurance, and Interest Rate Risk Insurance) and ii) insurance-type products to cover risks for export receivables and overseas investments (Overseas Construction Insurance, Knowledge Service Export Insurance and Overseas Investment Insurance). The Medium and Long-Term Export Credit Insurance is a scheme to cover risks of non-payment of principal and interest in a loan agreement with a payment period ofover two years for export of Korean capital goods. Overseas Business Credit Insurance, meanwhile, is a scheme to cover risks of non-payment of principal and interest in a loan agreement with a payment period of over two years for overseas businesses. KTIC is extending active support for Korea's export and overseas investment activities by facilitating financing in the international financial market using the two insurance schemes. The roles of medium and long-term financial products will be more critical asthe demand rises for ECA-backed loans facing greater uncertainties in the international financial market. Foreign Exchange Risk Insurance protects exporters from potential losses resulting from fluctuations in exchange rates. This insurance product was designed to hedge exchange risks whereby KTIC covers risks when exchange rates go down and redeems profits when they go up. This enables exporters to fix the export contract amount in the Korean currency, helping to secure their operating income and remove foreign exchange risks when the rates fall. KTIC offers two types of insurance arrangements. First, under the forward exchange arrangement, exporters may freely subscribe to a forward rate contract within limits based on export performance and export contracts. Second, under the bidding arrangement, foreign exchange rates are fixed in advance when exporters bid for overseas construction, plant or shipbuilding contracts to prepare for a drop in exchange rates in signing an export contract. Under the forward exchange arrangement, when an exporter subscribes to insurance, KTIC removes exchange rate risks by hedging (selling of forward exchange) through a bank on the date of subscription. If the exchange rates are down on the maturity date, KTIC receives the proceeds from the bank and pays claims to the exporter. Conversely, if the rates are up, KTIC pays the proceeds in advance and later receives the recoveries from the exporter. In light of the function and role of KTIC for Korean export promotion, how many SMEEs (Small or Medium-sized Export Enterprises) in Korea are making use of the outstanding export insurance system? SMEs are generally at a disadvantage compared with large-sized enterprises in terms of capital, information, professional power, and skilled labor. SMEEs are particularly exposed to commercial and political risks in receiving export payment from importers abroad. So, the Korean government has also been running an export insurance system (KTIC) since 1969. Lee MB’s government established a goal toreach a trade amount of U$ 1.3 trillion and an export amount of U$ 650 billion by 2014. In order to attain this target, they decided to raise the export ratio of SMEEs from the current 30% level to a 40% level by 2014. It is necessary and crucial for SMEEs to raise the practical use ratio of export insurance in order to enlarge the export amount and ratio of SMEEs. This paper aims at proposing some ideas for raising the practical use ratio of export insurance to promote more live export activity by covering commercial and political risks in importing countries. The methodology used to attain the objectives of this research is an analysis of the content of 'setting up a claim' proposed to KTIC during 2001～2005 by the insured or policy holder and find some bottlenecks faced in cases where SMEEs make use of the export insurance system. As a result of this research, the authors propose some concrete ideas for enhancing the practical use ratio of export insurance by SMEEs.