Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre in Singapore (HMGICS), a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, has obtained its first green loan in the city-state, a three-year S$230 million (US$170.7 million) offering from ANZ Bank and DBS Bank, with both acting as mandated lead arrangers and sustainability advisers on the deal.

The loan, whose proceeds will be used for capital financing of eligible green assets related to HMGICS’ operations in Singapore. The centre has identified its future growth engines as the development of smart factory technology, electric vehicle (EV) production, and building an eco-friendly facility.

HMGICS was launched in October 2020 and its facility is currently under construction in the Jurong Innovation Industrial Complex, with completion scheduled for end-2022. It will act as an open innovation lab for the group’s future mobility research and development, with the aim of revolutionizing the future mobility value chain.

The lab will introduce important new capabilities in areas like EVs and urban air mobility, and create new opportunities for these in Singapore. The innovation centre will also serve as a testbed for developing an innovative manufacturing platform that incorporates and verifies Industry 4.0 technologies.

With environment, social, and governance (ESG) criteria increasingly taking centre stage in business management, HMGICS is harnessing efforts to bolster its sustainable ESG management as part and parcel of its business management strategy.

“HMGICS will play a critical role in helping Singapore deliver on its plans to further reduce emissions by switching to cleaner energy vehicles by 2030,” says Jessie Yim, head of GSG, joint-coverage head, institutional banking, ANZ. “It has the scale to make a significant global impact through its sustainability agenda and its strategy aligns with ANZ’s ambitions to help drive the global transition to net zero.”