Invest KOREA

Despite the worldwide decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) last year, Korea’s FDI outflow increased, coming in 13th globally.

According to a report on global FDI trends in 2012 released by the Export-Import Bank of Korea last Friday, Korea’s FDI outflow in 2012 increased by 13.7 percent YoY to reach USD 32.9 billion.

In 2012, global FDI declined by 17 percent YoY to USD 1.391 trillion, due to the contraction in investor confidence amid the European financial crisis and global economic slowdown.

In the 2012 global FDI ranking, the U.S. topped the list by investing USD 328.8 billion, followed by Japan (USD 122.5 billion), China (USD 84.2 billion), Hong Kong (USD 83.9 billion), U.K. (USD 71.4 billion), Germany (USD 66.9 billion) and Canada (USD 53.9 billion).

Among advanced countries, the 2012 FDI outflow of Italy (14th), Norway (18th), Austria (22nd) and Australia (23rd) was lower than that of Korea.

Korea’s FDI outflow ranked 16th in the world in both 2011 (USD 28.9 billion) and 2010 (USD 28.3 billion). In 2012, Korea’s investment portion by region was: 57.1 percent in emerging countries; 41.6 percent in advanced countries; and 1.3 percent in transition countries.

Korea’s FDI inflow last year decreased by 3.3 percent YoY to USD 9.9 billion and ranked 31st in the world, moving up five steps from 36th in 2011.

The report noted that “Korea’s FDI outflow is focused on specific industries such as manufacturing and mining,” and stressed that “Korea should diversify its investment to other industries.”


Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (Sep. 20, 2013)

** This article was translated from the Korean.