74% of Mid-sized Companies "Maintain Investment at Last Year's Level This Year"

Junggyeonryeon Announces Results of '2023 Mid-sized Company Investment Outlook Survey'

Despite concerns about a global economic slowdown, 74.0% of mid-sized companies expect their investment scale this year to remain at last year's level. Mid-sized companies that anticipated an increase accounted for 15.5%, while those expecting a decrease were only 10.5%. The Korea Federation of Mid-sized Enterprises (KFME) announced this on the 28th through the results of the '2023 Mid-sized Enterprises Investment Outlook Survey.' The survey was conducted from February 27 to March 13, targeting 388 mid-sized companies.

The responding mid-sized companies forecast that this year's research and development (R&D) and facility investment scale will expand from 2.8 trillion KRW last year to approximately 3 trillion KRW. R&D investment is expected to increase by 7.8%, from 814.7 billion KRW in 2022 to 878.1 billion KRW in 2023, while facility investment is projected to grow by 3.1%, from 2.0574 trillion KRW in 2022 to 2.1221 trillion KRW this year.

Mid-sized companies anticipating investment expansion cited 'existing business expansion (47.1%)', 'improvement and replacement of aging facilities (24.3%)', and 'entry into new businesses (21.4%)' as factors driving increased investment. The top priority precondition for continuous investment expansion was identified as 'financing difficulties (44.2%)'. This was followed by 'complex administrative procedures such as permits (16.9%)', 'labor and employment regulations (12.1%)', and 'environmental regulations (9.7%)'.

To revitalize investment, mid-sized companies emphasized the urgent need for comprehensive government policy support, including 'expansion of financial support (22.4%)', 'price stabilization and revitalization of the domestic market (22.0%)', 'strengthening tax incentives for investment and R&D (16.4%)', 'relaxation of corporate regulations (12.7%)', 'adjustment of the pace of interest rate hikes (12.5%)', 'easing labor and employment regulations (7.2%)', and 'resolving workforce supply issues (6.5%)'.

Lee Ho-jun, Executive Vice Chairman of KFME, stated, "We must pay attention to the fact that nearly 90% of mid-sized companies responded that they will continue investing for sustainable growth, even as major economic organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank present a 'gloomy global economic outlook' with growth below 3%." He added, "As key players in private-led growth, we will do our utmost to actively identify investment difficulties faced by mid-sized companies and eliminate unreasonable regulations, centered on the Mid-sized Enterprises Investment Difficulty Task Force jointly launched with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy last February, to support bold investments that will lead Korea's leap forward."

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