South Korea Market

FDI in S. Korea hits record high in Jan.-Sept. period

SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Korea hit a new high for the first nine months of this year due to continued growth in inflow from both advanced and developing countries, a government report showed Thursday.

Inward FDI reported during the January-September period reached 11.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 47.7 percent from the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The amount was larger than any figure for the cited period, the ministry said.

The FDI actually arriving here amounted to 6.76 billion dollars for the first nine months of 2012, up 54.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the ministry. The ministry attributed the FDI increase to rising attractiveness of South Korea as investment destination following the free trade deal with major economies such as the United States and Europe. The continued inflow from Japan and China also contributed to the growth, the ministry said.

FDI from Greater China region, including Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, surged 145.9 percent on- year to 2.77 billion dollars for the first nine months of this year. Investment from Japan soared 130.6 percent to 3.3 billion dollars, with those from the United States jumping 44.2 percent over the same period.

By industry, FDI in the manufacturing sector increased 31.7 percent on-year to 4.3 billion dollars during the January- September period, with the number for the service industry surging 79.6 percent to 6.84 billion dollars.

By type, green field investment, which builds factories and creates new jobs, expanded 29.7 percent to 8.28 billion dollars over the cited period, with investment through mergers and acquisition (M&A) skyrocketing 143.2 percent to 2.92 billion dollars.