Foreign Direct Investment of $18.2 Billion from January to September This Year... Expected to Surpass $20 Billion for 7 Consecutive Years

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Korea from January to September this year exceeded $18.2 billion, marking the second highest record ever.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 7th that the cumulative FDI declaration amount for the first three quarters reached $18.21 billion, a 41.3% increase compared to the same period last year. If this trend continues, FDI is expected to easily surpass $20 billion annually for the seventh consecutive year since 2015 by the end of this year.

The actual investment amount based on arrivals after investment commitments until the third quarter was $11.74 billion, a 40.9% increase compared to the same period last year. Both the cumulative declaration and arrival amounts for the first three quarters are the second highest ever recorded.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy explained, "Investments in digital infrastructure reflecting lifestyle changes after COVID-19, such as the K-New Deal, non-face-to-face consumption, and cloud services, have flowed in, and investments in renewable energy sectors like solar power and offshore wind power have also increased. New investments have also been attracted in the vaccine and antibody treatment fields."

Specifically, in July, travel platform company Yanolja attracted an investment of $1.46 billion from Vision Fund II of Japan's SoftBank Group, led by third-generation Korean-Japanese Son Jeong-ui. Including this, the total FDI declaration amount for the service industry was $14.32 billion, a 60.8% increase compared to the same period last year.

The total declaration amount for the manufacturing industry was $3.09 billion, down 18.1%, but semiconductor manufacturing within the electrical and electronics sector increased by 136.3%. Investment in the materials, parts, and equipment sector also rose by 10.4%, reaching $2.35 billion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.