South Korean credit finance firms suggest that Central Asia could be the next land of opportunity, with the Southeast Asian market saturated, according to a June 14 report published by The Korea Times.

"Digitalization not only enables digital payments in countries with insufficient financial infrastructure but also broadens the scope of financing options," Kim So-young, vice chairman of Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) was quoted as saying during an FSC meeting in Seoul attended by financial experts and officials from credit card firms, leasing and instalment financing companies and venture capital firms.

Added Kim: "Last month, during my visit to Kyrgyzstan, I witnessed the potential for our credit finance companies to globalise [in this sector]."
In May, Kim visited two Central Asian countries ― Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan ― and participated in several events, including a launching ceremony for BNK Finance in Kyrgyzstan and a business agreement event for the establishment of electronic payment infrastructure between Korea and the Central Asian country.

"The region is not only expanding its role as a strategic nexus between Asia and Europe, but also emerging as an alternative energy operator to the Middle East. It is also making efforts to open its market internationally and to innovate [its current system]," Park Byoung-soo, an executive director of BNK Capital, was reported as saying.

"Additionally, the region also has more than 300,000 ethnic Koreans and holds a favourable stance toward Korea," Park added.

The ethnic Korean population of Central Asia is descended from ethnic Koreans who were forcefully resettled from the Russian Far East during the Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.