SEOUL, KOREA – Foreign-invested companies in the Korean manufacturing sector have seen their combined R&D investment nearing KRW 2 trillion. According to a survey on foreign-invested companies’ 2011 managerial performance, conducted by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE), the value of R&D investment by foreign-invested manufacturers surged 40% from KRW 1.33 trillion in 2010 to nearly KRW 1.86 trillion in 2011. Their share of the Korean manufacturing industry also rose from 5.4% to 7.1% during the same period.
The survey looked into 1,000 companies, over 10% (over USD 500,000) of which were owned by foreign investors as of the end of 2011.
Overall, foreign-invested companies’ contribution to the domestic economy has also been on the rise. As of 2011, the number of employees on their payrolls gained 17,000 year-on-year to 501,000. Noteworthy is that foreign-invested manufacturers led job growth by taking on 22,794 new hires in 2011.
Their exports also ticked up USD 8.4 billion to USD 100.7 billion and their sales climbed over 20% year-on-year to KRW 482 trillion in 2011.
Sean Chung (hbpark@etnews.com)
**Article provided by etnews [Korea IT News]
[Reference] : http://english.etnews.com/electronics/2715655_1303.html
