The Ministry of Strategy & Finance announced on May 12 that South Korean enterprises’ and individuals’ overseas direct investment increased by 29.5% from a year ago to US$10.3 billion in the first quarter of this year, breaking the US$10 billion mark for the first time in four years.
The amount has continued to increase since early last year. It rose by 32.8% from US$34.44 billion to US$45.74 billion between 2010 and 2011 and then fell 13.3% to US$39.65 billion and 10.1% to US$35.64 billion in 2012 and 2013, respectively. However, it rebounzded to US$40.23 billion last year after edging down by 1.8% to US$35 billion in 2014.
The amount of the investment in Asia soared by 64.3% to US$2.95 billion to take up 28.6% of the total. That in Latin America jumped by 75.4% to US$2.35 billion. In contrast, that in North America declined by 10.9% to US$2.73 billion while that in Oceania dropped by 30%. By country, those in China and Vietnam increased by 93% and 36.3%, respectively. On the contrary, those in the United States and Canada fell 8.2% and 60.9%.
