According to Yonhap News,
(SEOUL=Yonhap News) New foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to South Korea in the first half of this year reached an all-time high, in line with rising interest in the nation's high-tech industries and startups in emerging sectors, government data showed Wednesday.
South Korea received US$15.75 billion worth of FDI commitments from January to June, which represents a 64.2 percent spike from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The actual investment made by foreign companies over the period reached $9.46 billion, jumping 76.4 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said.
"The record-high FDI pledges reaffirmed the South Korean economy's strong fundamentals under a difficult business environment, including trade disputes between the United States and China as well as U.S. corporate tax cuts and interest rate hike," the ministry said in a release.
The investment pledge from the European Union more than doubled to $4.57 billion in the first half, mostly in the form of joint venture for the global value chain and merger and acquisition.
American companies sought partnership and stake acquisition in high-tech industries and tech startups, pledging $3.01 billion over the period, a 23.2 percent increase.
New FDI pledged from China rose a whopping 350 percent to $2.2 billion, the largest-ever amount, led by brisk investment in the service industry.
By sector, the manufacturing industry drew in $7.21 billion worth of investment pledges as offshore investors sought joint venture partners in the driverless car, drone and bio sectors.
Service industries attracted $8.37 billion of new investment from abroad in emerging technology fields, such as e-commerce, cloud computing, mobile platforms and fintech, the ministry said.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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** This article was translated from Korean.
Source: Yonhap News (July 04, 2018)