Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Korea has reached a record high despite economic uncertainty due to global inflation.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Oct. 5 in a report on FDI in the third quarter said the scale of reported investment was USD 21.52 billion from January through September, up 18.2% from the same period last year. The amount is a record high for the first three quarters in a year and the first time for the figure to break USD 20 billion over the period.
The number of investments rose 12.7% to 2,498, with high-quality and cutting-edge industries such as semiconductors, electric vehicles and secondary batteries seeing large amounts flowing in. FDI in manufacturing skyrocketed 152% to USD 7.8 billion, accounting for 36.2% of such investment overall.
By industry, FDI rose the most in textiles and clothing (4,949.1%), food (572.7%), metal and processed metal products (528.8%), electrical and electronics (232.1%), and machine equipment and precision medicine (136.4%). Sectors seeing a decline in such investment were paper and wood (95.5%), non-metallic minerals (81.3%) and transportation machinery (16.3%).
By country, the U.S. provided the most FDI in Korea with USD 7.13 billion, up 115.9% and comprising 33.1% of all FDI. That from Japan jumped 42.9% to USD 1.04 billion.
FDI from the European Union fell 55% and that from Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) declined 14.9%.
The ministry said, “We have confirmed factors drawing investment to Korea like government efforts to attract investment, a stable base of domestic manufacturing, excellent human resources and innovative technology.”
Source: Korea.net