FDI in S.Korea hits record high in H1 at 10.5 bln dollars

Foreign direct investment into South Korea hit a record high of 10.52 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, a government report showed on Monday.

Foreigners invested 10.52 billion dollars during the January-June period to build factories and buy companies in South Korea, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It was up 18.6 percent from the same period of last year and surpassed the previous first-half record high of 10.33 billion dollars tallied in the first half of 2014.

The first-half FDI continued to grow from 5.36 billion dollars in 2011 to 8.0 billion dollars in 2013 and 10.33 billion dollars in 2014, before falling temporarily to 8.87 billion dollars in 2015.

Despite the global economic slowdown, foreigners increased investment into the South Korean economy on expectations for an expansion of new growth engines, the ministry said.

Foreign investors spent money mainly on building R&D centers and factories for parts and materials, according to the ministry.

By region, the European Union (EU) member states invested 4.21 billion dollars in the first half, up 221.2 percent from a year earlier. Chinese investment surged 79.5 percent to 710 million dollars, but investments from the United States and Japan posted a double-digit reduction.

Greenfield investment, which builds factories and create jobs, increased 9.2 percent from a year earlier to 7.22 billion dollars in the first half, while the merger and acquisition (M&A) investment jumped 46.1 percent to 3.3 billion dollars. Endit