Invest KOREA

According to Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea,

Foreign investors pledged a combined $10.52 billion in direct investment in South Korea in the first six months this year, up 18.6 percent on year in largest-ever first-half record, said the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) Monday.

The last largest record was $10.33 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of 2014.

New FDI pledged to Korea during the first three months of the year was tallied at $4.24 billion, up 19.3 percent from $3.55 billion a year ago amid active investment by multinational companies. Descente, Japanese sports brand, invested $5 million to build a textile and apparel research and development center. Foreign investment also flowed in the second half, registering $6.28 billion, up 18.1 percent from $5.32 billion in the same period in 2015 and 48.1 percent from the previous quarter.

Mergers and acquisitions were active in software and content sector, and there were growing cases of establishing facility here to target China, the ministry said.

By regions, the European Union (EU) pledged $4.21 billion, a whopping 221.2 percent on year, while capital inflow from China reached $710 million, up 79.5 percent from a year ago. Investment from the United States and Japan declined 13.7 percent and 28.8 percent, respectively, to $1.81 billion and $690 million.

By Seo Dong-cheol

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Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (Jul. 4, 2016)