President Yoon Suk Yeol (center) speaking during a ceremony in Paris on June 21, where a group of European companies announced plans to make an investment in South Korea. (Yonhap)
Foreign direct investment pledges to South Korea jumped 54.2 percent on-year in the first six months of this year to reach a record high for any first-half period, data showed Tuesday.
The country received $17.09 billion of FDI commitments in the January-June period, compared with $11.09 billion logged a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
This year's figure is the largest ever for any January-June period, with the previous record being $13.14 billion in 2021.
For the second quarter alone, FDI also reached an all-time high for any second quarter at $11.46 billion, the data showed.
The amount of investment that actually arrived in South Korea in the first half grew 6 percent on-year to $7.75 billion, according to the ministry.
By industry, the manufacturing sector received investment pledges of $7.63 billion in the first half, up 145.9 percent on-year, and FDI pledges to the service sector climbed 11 percent to $8.48 billion.
The electric and electronics field, which includes the semiconductor and secondary battery industries, saw foreign investment commitments spike 663 percent on-year, and those in chemical engineering soared 464.1 percent.
By investor, FDI pledges from the European Union and Britain more than doubled to $4.26 billion, accounting for 25 percent of total investment pledges made in the first half of 2023.
FDI pledges from the United States advanced 24.1 percent to $3.66 billion, and the amount from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia also went up 32.8 percent on-year to $3.25 billion.
But investment commitments from Japan tumbled 33.4 percent on-year to $600 million, the data showed.
Greenfield investment, which refers to a parent company's launch of a new venture or the establishment of new facilities, increased 53.1 percent on-year to $12.64 billion, and investment in the form of mergers and acquisitions jumped 57.3 percent to $4.45 billion.
"We have seen a marked growth in foreign investment in the advanced manufacturing industry sectors, such as chips, batteries and bio fields, as well as wind power, hydrogen and other new energy industries, as South Korea has a solid basis for the manufacturing industry and technology prowess," the ministry said in a release. (Yonhap)
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