Invest KOREA

A directory that lists information regarding Korea enterprises operating business in foreign countries is published on Apr 14

KOTRA (President Yoo Jung Yeol) publishes 'Directory of Korean Companies Engaging in International Business 2022' on Apr. 14. Against the backdrop of various external and internal changes in the global landscape caused by the Pandemic and the supply chain restructure, the odds are that many global companies will withdraw, relocate their businesses or enter new markets. Amidst all of these, the major goal of the publication is to list domestic companies that recently made inroads into foreign markets and set up supportive measures for them.

As of December 2022, the number of domestic corporations doing business overseas* on the list of the directory was 11,567 up 11.2% compared to 2020. Among the all business locations, Southeast Asia & Oceania (50.5%) topped the list and China (20.2%), Europe (7.1%), and North America (6.3%) followed.

*Note that only the companies that provided data to KOTRA were listed in the directory

The majority of the foreign subsidiaries of the Korean companies are found to be engaging in single sectors such as manufacture (35.5%), service (22.6%), sales (12.5%), or a form of branch office (10.4%). Those engaging in more than 2 sectors accounts for a mere 8.7%. When it comes to the share of each sector by location, manufacturing takes up over 40% in Oceania and South East Asia (46.4%), and sales (32.0%) is the highest in Japan. In the Middle East (34.3%) and Africa (33.3%), the share of branch office is bigger than the rest. In the case of the type of foreign investment, 87.2% of the companies chooses to go it alone and 12% is joint venture and 0.8% is M&A.

Invest KOREA Commissioner Kim Tae Hyung said, "As recent shifts in the global landscape causes the global supply chain to be restructured, many Korean enterprises are expected to relocate their foreign subsidiaries." and "We published the directory to identify how Korean companies are doing business overseas and provide required supports based on the data."

'Directory of Korean Companies Engaging in International Business 2022' is available for free download in a KOTRA's website (dream.kotra.or.kr.). If you want to have access to a paid version that have more detailed information, please follow the instruction in that website that explains how to buy one in KOTRA Library.



Source: Invest KOREA (Apr 17, 2023)