S. Korean direct investment overseas drops 15.6 pct in 1st 3Q
2012-11-16 16:51:43
South Korea's direct investment overseas dropped 15.6 percent in the January-September period due to plunging investment into overseas mining projects, data by the finance ministry showed Friday.
Reported direct investment overseas reached 30.68 billion U.S. dollars for the first nine months of this year, down 15.6 percent from the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.
The slowdown was attributable to a drop in investment into overseas natural resource development projects that outweighed an increase in the manufacturing and finance sectors. Excluding the mining sector, the investment jumped 28.2 percent on-year to 22.21 billion dollars for the first nine months of this year.
By industry, investment into overseas mining development projects tumbled 55.5 percent on-year to 8.46 billion dollars during the January-September period due to a high base effect of the same period last year when energy-related public corporations rushed for energy development projects in the U.S., Australia and Canada.
Those for the manufacturing sector, however, jumped 36.9 percent to 9.86 billion dollars over the cited period, and investment into overseas finance and insurance industries surged 60.1 percent to 5.69 billion dollars thanks to an increase in the pension fund's investment into the U.S. real estate-linked funds.
By region, the direct investment into North American countries sank 65.6 percent on-year to 5.52 billion dollars in the January- September period due to the base effect, but those for Europe and the Middle East jumped 86.7 percent and 158.4 percent, respectively, over the same period.
Direct investment into other Asian countries increased 4.9 percent to 11.7 billion dollars over the cited period, accounting for more than one third of the total. China ranked first in terms of the largest destination for overseas investment, with 5.45 billion dollars invested into the world's No. 2 economy during the January-September period.
The finance ministry said the outlook for the country's direct investment overseas became bleak due to dropping overseas mining investment, but it noted that the overseas investment was forecast to top 40 billion dollars this year thanks to growth in investment into the manufacturing and finance industries.