Finance, Forex and Investments

FDI into Korea sags 9 4 partly on strong won

Summary: The inflow of foreign direct investment to Korea so far this year has fallen sharply from the previous year because of a drop in the volume of merger and acquisition investments and the strength of the won according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy The volume of Korea s FDI from January to September was $7 26 billion 9 4 percent less than last year s $8 billion The drop is because of various factors such as the overall delay in the recovery of the global foreign direct investment market a decrease in large scale M As the strong performance of the won and the financial instability of European Union countries the ministry said in a release The average exchange rate for the local currency in the first nine months last year was 1 314 9 won against the U S dollar compared to 1 164 4 won in the same period this year The won s exchange rate against the euro also increased to 1 531 4 won up from last year s 1 791 won M A investments were slow and there have been no large scale M As worth more than $300 million this year Last year there were three big deals including eBay s $700 million acquisition of Korea s online shopping portal Gmarket The ministry noted that after the global financial crisis began low cost M A deals increased in countries like the U S and the EU which cut into companies overseas investment appetites M A investment in Korea dropped 60 8 percent year on year to $1 23 billion during the period from January to September By sector a majority of this year s investment was focused on new growth areas such as green technology and high value services Of FDI worth more than $10 million 11 8 percent was in new growth areas last year whereas this year it jumped to 27 9 percent But emerging nations continued to invest in Korea China s FDI jumped 127 2 percent to $330 million in the first nine months this year mainly in electronics and retail distribution and the Middle East s FDI increased 390 percent to $167 million Recovery in the current worldwide depressed FDI remains uncertain but if Korea aggressively attracts more FDI the country will be able to reach last year s total volume of $11 4 billion said a ministry official adding that the government will target China and the Middle East The Netherlands suffered the worst drop in net FDI in the first half of the year at 240 4 percent on year followed by Japan with 115 3 percent France with 33 7 percent Germany with 22 8 percent and India with 18 3 percent By Lee Eun joo angie joongang co kr Copyrights ⓒ JoongangIlbo Joins com All rights reserved The inflow of foreign direct investment to Korea so far this year has fallen sharply from the previous year because of a drop in the volume of merger and acquisition investments and the strength of the won according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy The volume of Korea s FDI from January to September was $7 26 billion 9 4 percent less than last year s $8 billion The drop is because of various factors such as the overall delay in the recovery of the global foreign direct investment market a decrease in large scale M As the strong performance of the won and the financial instability of European Union countries the ministry said in a release The average exchange rate for the local currency in the first nine months last year was 1 314 9 won against the U S dollar compared to 1 164 4 won in the same period this year The won s exchange rate against the euro also increased to 1 531 4 won up from last year s 1 791 won M A investments were slow and there have been no large scale M As worth more than $300 million this year Last year there were three big deals including eBay s $700 million acquisition of Korea s online shopping portal Gmarket The ministry noted that after the global financial crisis began low cost M A deals increased in countries like the U S and the EU which cut into companies overseas investment appetites M A investment in Korea dropped 60 8 percent year on year to $1 23 billion during the period from January to September By sector a majority of this year s investment was focused on new growth areas such as green technology and high value services Of FDI worth more than $10 million 11 8 percent was in new growth areas last year whereas this year it jumped to 27 9 percent But emerging nations continued to invest in Korea China s FDI jumped 127 2 percent to $330 million in the first nine months this year mainly in electronics and retail distribution and the Middle East s FDI increased 390 percent to $167 million Recovery in the current worldwide depressed FDI remains uncertain but if Korea aggressively attracts more FDI the country will be able to reach last year s total volume of $11 4 billion said a ministry official adding that the government will target China and the Middle East The Netherlands suffered the worst drop in net FDI in the first half of the year at 240 4 percent on year followed by Japan with 115 3 percent France with 33 7 percent Germany with 22 8 percent and India with 18 3 percent By Lee Eun joo angie joongang co kr Copyrights ⓒ JoongangIlbo Joins com All rights reserved

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