Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

South Korea’s FDI Trends in the 3Q of 2015

    □ Accumulated foreign direct investmentFDI) to South Korea for three quarters of 2015 decreased from a year earlier. The declared amount fell 10.5 percent to USD 13.27 billion and the received amount rose 9.0 percent to USD 10.82 billion from a year earlier, which means passing USD 10 billion in the shortest time ever. These numbers far exceed the average number for the past five years, mainly attributable to investments in service and construction industries.   □ - FDI to South Korea in 2015 seems to record similar amount compared to that of a year earlier based on numbers from the past and signs of investment recovery.   - South Korea plans to achieve $ 20 billion in FDI for the first time in 2015. To this end, the country will make various efforts in fourth quarter as follows: It will host “Foreign Investment Week 2015” from Oct. 13 to 15 in Seoul, inviting over 1,000 people including potential investors, those from domestic foreign investment companies, and foreign press. The activities will be mainly investment attraction activities with some forums and press conferences. It will also host events in Japan, Australia, and European countries involving investment consultation meetings and investment attraction activities for new industry of energy in preparation for “New Climate System”   date2015-10-05

Sales Trends by Major Retailers in August 2015

  □ The sales by major retailers, including those of hypermarkets, department stores and super supermarkets, fell from a year earlier, while those of convenience stores increased in Aug. 2015. □ The sales of hypermarkets and department stores increased for two consecutive months while that of convenience stores increased drastically for four consecutive months. □By product group, the sales of food, clothing, and miscellaneous goods decreased   date2015-09-30

Automobile Industry Trends for August 2015

    □ The volume of South Korean automobile domestic sales and production increased by 13.2 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, while exports decreased by 0.7%. This was attributed to new car model launches such as Spark and K5 and economic recession in emerging markets.   □ : Production increased by 4.3 percent from a year earlier to 284,803 units despite reduced exports and fewer operating days. This rise was mainly attributable to expanded domestic demand and base effect from last year when partial strikes took place.   □ : Domestic sales increased by 13.2 percent from a year earlier to 139,327 units. This was attributable to strong sales of multi-purpose vehicles and release of new models.   - Sales of imported cars increased by 24.7 percent from a year earlier to 20,564 units.   □ : Exports decreased by 0.7 percent from a year earlier to 181,915 units. This was mainly attributable to weakened competitive edge due to Yen and Euro depreciation and demand contraction in emerging markets such as Russia and Latin America.   date2015-09-30

Stepping stone project to create USD 2.7 bil market by 2017

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on September 30 that it is currently carrying out a total of 12 stepping stone projects, and has recently selected businesses to achieve some of the objectives with the aim to create a 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion) market with the projects by 2017.     A stepping stone project is where new technologies or products are introduced by using the interim results of various government R&D projects that are being carried out in order to develop new future growth engines.     One of the characteristics of this stepping stone project is that both the consumer and developer participate in the technology development activities.     In the case of the Hospital Logistics Robot Project, both the robot manufacturers and domestic university hospitals test the prototypes in order to develop the technologies that are actually helpful to the hospital. They started carrying out the R&D activities at the end of last year, and plan to introduce new products in the second half of next year.     The Fishfinder Drone Development Project is also carried out by both domestic airlines and owners of deep-sea fishing vessels, so that the vessel owners can propose the technology standards necessary for navigation and support test operation.     The project objective is to develop tilt rotor drones suitable for flying over the ocean with the task of finding schools of fish. A prototype will be available for testing by offshore fishing boats.     MOTIE also announced that it plans to organize and operate a special support team for the industrialization of stepping stone projects within its R&D Strategic Planning Team to make the project successful, and send PD's with business experience in the area of robotics to the R&D sites to support the businesses involved in the projects.     * Short version date2015-09-30

MOTIE Opens Special Store to Promote Local Premium Goods Overseas at Lotte World Mall

      The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) opened a special store to promote the sale of global premium goods such as kitchenware, watches and toys made by local exporters at the Lotte World Mall in Seoul yesterday.   The opening of the special store is the Korean government's latest effort to support local companies to develop 100 global premium goods by 2017 for the competitiveness of the country's personal and household goods industry.   MOTIE Minister Yoon Sang-jick attended the opening ceremony at the country's biggest shopping mall and pledged all government support necessary to facilitate the exports of these high-quality products. date2015-09-24

MOTIE Hosts Korea-Italy M&A Deal Sourcing Plaza

MOTIE Hosts Korea-Italy M&A Deal Sourcing Plaza   The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) hosted the Korea-Italy M&A Deal Sourcing Plaza in Seoul yesterday in an effort to encourage local companies to seek business opportunities in Italy and other European countries through mergers and acquisitions (M&As)   In an opening speech at the event, Deputy Minister for International Trade and Investment Lee Inho pledged government support and stressed the need for small- date2015-09-23

Republic of Korea and Six Central American Countries Holds First FTA Talks

      The Republic of Korea is holding the first official round of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with six Central American countries from today through Sept. 25 in Seoul.   During the five-day talks, Korea and the six nations including El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua will seek a comprehensive and high-level FTA. date2015-09-21

First negotiation talks for the FTA to be held between Korea and six South American countries

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on September 21 that the first negotiation talks for the FTA between South Korea, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua are to be held from September 21 to 25 in Seoul.     The negotiation talks were scheduled and announced in June this year with the aim to achieve a "qualitative and comprehensive FTA", and a preliminary negotiation talks were held in July in order to specify minor regulations to be added in the agreement.     In the first negotiation talks, representatives from the six countries will share opinions on a total of 9 areas and 15 chapters including products, trade aid, country of origin and customs clearance.     The 6 South American countries have a high growth potential as they rank high both in GDP and population, and goods traded between South Korea and these countries amounted to $ 5 billion in 2014. The FTA is expected to help diversify economic cooperation between the countries.     * Short version date2015-09-21

MOTIE 2nd Vice Minister Moon Speaks on Future of Global LNG Market

    MOTIE's 2nd Vice Minister Moon Jae-do gave a speech at the LNG Producer-Consumer Conference 2015 held in Tokyo, Japan, last week, which about 1,000 participants from 50 countries attended.   In the speech, the South Korean vice minister discussed how producing and consuming countries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) should cooperate to stimulate the global LNG market in the era of low oil prices. date2015-09-21

MOTIE 1st Vice Minister Lee Holds Presser with Alibaba's Vice Chairman

    MOTIE's 1st Vice Minister Lee Kwan-sup held a press conference with Alibaba Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai in Seoul this week on China's biggest e-commerce company's global business strategy.   In related news, Samsung C&T Corp. is expected to launch its fast-fashion brand 8 Seconds on Alibaba's Tmall platform in 2016, reports China Daily: date2015-09-18