A researcher from the institute said that Korean companies need to invest at least 3.4 billion dollars annually in Korea to maintain its domestic manufacturing competitiveness.(image:Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Mar. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Korea’s increasing FDI has resulted in the dissolution of 24,000 domestic high-quality jobs per year, according to a Hyundai Research Institute (HRI) report published on March 3. A researcher from the institute said that Korean companies need to invest at least 3.4 billion dollars annually in Korea to maintain its domestic manufacturing competitiveness.
According to a report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Korea’s FDI increased more than 70 times over the past twenty years, from 3.33 billion dollars in 1991 to 219.05 billion dollars in 2013. Korea’s FDI net outflows first outpaced FDI net inflows in 2006.
Korean companies are increasingly turning to overseas expansion rather than the expansion of their export businesses, as only 13.3 percent of the overall FDI from Korean companies was spent to augment exports between 2006 and 2014, while the figure was 39.1 percent between 1991 and 2005. However, overseas expansion accounted for 41.9 percent of overall FDI, while the figure was only 15.9 percent from 1991 to 2005.
The HRI report concluded that 3.4 billion dollars in investment per year in high-value businesses has disappeared from the domestic market, which has resulted in the loss of 24,000 domestic jobs annually.
By J.W. Choi (summerchoi@koreabizwire.com)
