S. Korea’s overseas direct investment keeps falling in Q2

SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s overseas direct investment kept falling for the second consecutive quarter due to lingering uncertainty over the global economy, government data showed Friday.
Overseas investment through the purchase of foreign stocks and the establishment of foreign offices stood at 15.66 billion U.S. dollars in the April-June quarter, down 2.7 percent compared to the same quarter of 2023, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
It maintained a downward trend after sliding 7.5 percent in the January-March quarter.
The continued reduction was attributable to uncertainties about the global economic recovery, the prolonged high interest rates and geopolitical risks in Europe and the Middle East.
Overseas investment in the finance and insurance and the manufacturing industries dived in double figures to 5.33 billion dollars and 3.61 billion dollars, respectively.
Investment in the real estate industry decreased 7.7 percent to 1.14 billion dollars, but those in the mining and the information and communication sectors jumped more than 40 percent to 1.6 billion dollars and 1.32 billion dollars each.
Direct investment in North America shrank 8.5 percent from a year earlier to 7 billion dollars in the second quarter, while investment in Asia and Europe declined to 3.3 billion dollars and 2.1 billion dollars each. ■