SEOUL– Foreign direct investment (FDI) into South Korea logged a double-digit growth in the first nine months of this year, on expectations for economic recovery, a government report showed today.

The FDI amounted to 18.21 billion U.S. dollars in the Jan-Sept period, up 41.3 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It marked the country’s second-biggest figure, during the nine-month period, amid rising expectations for economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic shock.

The FDI in the domestic manufacturing industry declined 18.1 percent to 3.09 billion dollars in the cited period, but investment in the services industry surged 60.8 percent to 14.32 billion dollars.

Foreign investment in other local industries, including the agricultural and mining sectors and public utilities, almost quadrupled for the first nine months of 2021.

The FDI from the United States rose 8.6 percent to 3.3 billion dollars, and the figure from the European Union (EU) more than doubled to 7.33 billion dollars.

Investment from China surged 25.7 percent to 5.09 billion dollars, and the reading from Japan jumped 33.8 percent to 730 million dollars.

The greenfield investment, which includes the construction of factories and employment, advanced 20.8 percent to 11.22 billion dollars, while the merger and acquisition (M&A) investment, nearly doubled to 6.99 billion dollars.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK