Korea 8th In E. Asia For Attracting Foreign Investment

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Korea, including M&As and the establishment of plants amounted to US$2.341 billion last year, accounting for only 0.2% of the total US$82.411 billion in FDI made in the East Asian region. The statistics are part of a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report issued Tuesday. In contrast, Korean investors had made an average of US$923 million in FDI every year between 1986 and 1991 and FDIs worth US$4.67 billion in 1996 and US$4.287 billion in 1997. Korea ranked only 8th among nations in the region. China occupied the top position, with US$45.3 billion in FDI.

The UNCTAD report also revealed that there are about 53,000 multi-national enterprises throughout the world and that they have some 450,000 overseas affiliates. General Electric of the United States was found to have the largest foreign assets, totaling US$82.8 billion. Out of Korean businesses, Daewoo topped the list, ranking 43rd in the world, with assets totaling US$14.9 billion in foreign countries.

(Lee Chul-min, chulmin@chosun.com)