S. Korea draws US$20 mln investment from Dutch, German semiconductor firms
S. Korea has drawn investment of a combined USD 20 billion from Dutch and German semiconductor companies, the industry ministry said on Oct. 14. The investment pledges were made as Moon Dong-min, a deputy minister for trade and investment, visited the Netherlands and Germany for trade talks earlier this week, according to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy. Of the investment cases, Dutch semiconductor equipment supplier ASM decided to invest USD 10 million to build a production factory and a research and development center in S. Korea. The S. Korean ministry also had consultations with Carl Zeiss of Germany about an investment of a similar scale, it added. KSB, a Germany-based pumps and valves manufacturer, discussed with S. Korea about its investment in expanded facilities and an R&D center in S. Korea.
Renault plans hundreds of millions of euros to groom S. Korea as new export hub: CEO
French auto giant Renault Group hopes to invest hundreds of millions of euros in the next six years to make S. Korea a new export hub for its mid- to large-size vehicles, Luca de Meo, chief executive officer of Renault S.A., said on Oct. 11 during his first visit to Korea since his inauguration in 2020. The new mid- to large-size release will likely be a hybrid model, de Meo said in a press conference in Seoul. Renault Korea Motors, Renault’s Korean operation, unveiled the new crossover SUV model concept coming out 2025 on the same day. Its crossover SUV XM3 has successfully garnered a positive response in the global market, and cumulative shipments exceeded 200,000 units at the end of last month.
FDI pledges to S. Korea hit record high through September: data
Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges to S. Korea rose 18.2 percent on-year during the first nine months of this year on the solid growth in investment in such advanced sectors as chips and batteries, the industry ministry said Oct. 5. The country received USD 21.52 billion worth of FDI commitments during the January-September period, compared with USD 18.21 billion logged a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It marked the highest amount ever for any nine months of data. It is also the first time that the country received more than USD 20 billion worth of FDI through the third quarter. A total of 2,498 investment pledges were made during the cited period, up 12.7 percent from the previous year. "The country saw an increase in foreign investment in such advanced sectors as semiconductors, electric vehicles and batteries. Stable manufacturing bases, manpower and innovative technologies, as well as the government's efforts, have attracted foreign investment," it added.
*This article is extracted from Invest KOREA information center, 2022.