Foreign direct investment that arrived in South Korea surpassed the $10 billion mark in the first nine months of 2015, up 9 percent compared to the year before, the government said Sunday.

The total that arrived by the end of September stood at $10.82 billion compared to $9.92 billion tallied for the same three quarters last year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.

"After a weak start in the January-March period, FDI numbers clearly showed signs of improvement coming into the second and third quarters," it said. "The picking up of pace is noteworthy since it comes at a time of mounting global uncertainties and challenging economic conditions."

The ministry also pointed out that 2015 set a record for the shortest time it took for inbound foreign investment to surpass the $10 billion milestone.

The ministry said that while the actual sum that arrived in the country surpassed last year, funds pledged were down 10.5 percent.

This is mainly due to a very base effect. 

As of September this year, total FDI deals that can lead to funds arriving in the country reached $13.27 billion vis-a-vis $14.82 billion for the same period last year.

"Even though the amount pledged is smaller than last year, it is still second highest reported for the nine-month time frame," a ministry official stressed.

In 2014, the amount of FDI pledged for the whole year hit $19 billion, while actual investment made from such commitments hovered at $12.03 billion won. Both are all-time highs and the result of several high profile deals involving foreign companies buying stakes in local firms.

The ministry then claimed the steady inflow of investment is tied to the country's move to aggressively dismantle irrational red tape cited for holding up FDI in the past.

It said a noteworthy development is the sharp increase in Chinese FDI in the third quarter. In the July-September period alone, Chinese investment hit $1.14 billion, up 48.1 percent compared with the previous year.

The trade ministry said for the third quarter as a whole, all investments pledged hit $4.4 billion, which is roughly on par with the third quarter of last year.

Going into details, data showed that in the first three quarters of 2015, pledged and actual investments in the service sector rose 3.5 percent on-year to $8.9 billion, with construction surging 812.2 percent to $1.42 billion. Manufacturing, on the other hand, fell 51.3 percent to $2.95 billion. The fall is due to fewer merger and acquisition deals and joint venture arrangements between foreign and local manufacturers compared with 2014.

"Even in the manufacturing sector, FDI numbers are showing signs of making up lost ground," the ministry claimed.

For the fourth quarter, it said both the amount pledged and what actually arrives should continue to move up.

"The goal is to secure investment deals worth $20 billion by the end of the year that will surpass the total for 2014," the ministry said.

It said to reach the goal policymakers will take part in foreign investment events in the country and abroad to highlight the merits of investing in South Korea. (Yonhap)