Foreign Monies
Foreign direct investment in Korea is showing some recovery after having plummeted by 30 percent from a year ago in the first quarter of this year. The amount increased 0.8 percent between the second quarters of 2014 and 2015, and edged down by 1.8 percent between the third quarters of the two years.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy announced on Oct. 4 that the FDI for the first three quarters of this year decreased 10.5 percent to US$13.27 billion on a report basis and increased 9.0 percent to US$10.82 billion on an arrival basis compared to the same period last year. The decrease in cumulative reported amount reached 29.8 percent in the first quarter of 2015, but fell to 14.2 percent and 10.5 percent in the following quarters. The cumulative amount of arrival declined 15.0 percent in Q1 and 18.9 percent in Q2, but increased 9.0 percent in the next quarter.
By country, the reported amount from American investors rose by 4 percent to US$2.98 billion, and that of Middle Eastern and Chinese investors soared by 1,488.5 percent and 48.1 percent to US$1.34 billion and US$1.53 billion, respectively. Meanwhile, that of the E.U. and Japan decreased 69.6 percent and 27 percent to US$1.8 billion and US$1.2 billion.
Green field investment recorded an increase of 12.9 percent to US$8.56 billion, whereas M&A investment decreased 34.9 percent to US$4.71 billion. Investment in the service industry and the construction sector rose by 3.5 percent and 812.2 percent to US$8.9 billion and US$1.42 billion, respectively. Still, the manufacturing sector had to settle for US$2.95 billion, about half of the amount recorded a year ago. In the service industry, an investment of US$4.18 billion, three times that of the preceding year, was reported in the financial and insurance segment alone.