April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] New foreign direct investment pledged to Korea in the first three months of this year jumped 28.1 percent compared with a year ago on the back of improved ties with China, government data showed on April 4.

Korea received US$4.92 billion worth of FDI commitments from January to March, marking the second-largest figure for the first quarter, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The amount of actual investments made by foreign investors and companies, however, retreated 2.9 percent on-year to US$2.91 billion over the cited period, the ministry said.

“The FDI pledges are expected to stay on the upward trend, but concerns over the protracted trade war between the US and China and the US interest rate hike’s impact on the global M&A market are potential negative factors,” the ministry said in a release.

New FDI pledged from China rose a whopping 541.5 percent to US$1.05 billion as investors showed an increased interest in real estate, as well as memory chips and electronic parts.

The new investment pledge from the United States jumped 102.3 percent to US$740 million, led by the information and technology sector, and the finance sector.

Member states of the European Union committed US$1.87 billion of investment to Korea, which soared 114 percent over the cited period.

In contrast, investment pledges from Japan declined 9.6 percent to US$370 million due to the sluggishness in chemicals and electronic parts.

The manufacturing industry drew in US$1.54 billion worth of investment pledges as offshore investors sought joint venture partners in electronics and auto parts related to driverless cars.

Service industries attracted US$3.34 billion of new investment in emerging technology fields, such as IT platforms, cloud computing, e-commerce and fintech from abroad over the period, the ministry said.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)