South Korea seems to be the “go-to” place vis-à-vis Asian foreign investments. Indeed, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) conducted a survey recently which found the region to be the second (out of seven) most attractive market in Asia for foreign investors. It was only beaten by Singapore.
Even though Singapore came in ahead of South Korea, it was the latter that scored highest in those areas relating to social infrastructure (like power supply stability, logistics and communications). It was the geopolitical risk questions that pushed it down a spot, given the ongoing tensions it has with North Korea. Further, 47 percent of survey respondents already had stakes in South Korea and a further 29 percent with plans to invest in the region. These figures are compounded by the fact that the FDI pledged to South Korea in the first three months of 2014 accelerated 49.1 percent as compared with 2013.
Other good news for foreign investors looking into South Korea is the recent indication made by the country’s finance minister that housing market regulations are about to ease. Given that – to date – these regulations have been most stringent, this is welcome news. The possible relaxation is due to the “protracted slump in transactions,” said Choi Kyoung-Hwan who was recently nominated to become the newest foreign minister.
In other financial news in the region, the public pension fund – The National Pension Service (NPS) – will be investing USD400m in Asian real estate, in an effort to further penetrate the property market.
Posts Tagged ‘South Korea’
Investing in South Korea
June 28th, 2014Indians are Asia’s Big Spenders Says Survey
August 1st, 2012Indian business travelers have the second largest budget for spending per trip, with only Singaporean businessmen topping them, spending $339 versus $468, according to a recent survey.
The survey showed that the most important elements of a business trip to travelers from the Asia-Pacific region were the location, a free Wifi connection and competitive prices of hotel rooms. Asian businessmen based their choice of hotels on the closeness of the hotel to the business venue, with 53% saying it was an important feature of their choice. The presence of Wifi influenced their decision of where to stay 49% of the time, while competitive rates were slightly less important, with 46% saying that fact influenced their decision.
Thailand is the up and coming star as a top business destination according to the survey, which was conducted by Accor Asia-Pacific Business Traveler. The most visited destination today is Hong Kong, with Singapore following closely in second place.
The survey was done during July 10-16 and asked 2,500 travelers from a total of nine countries in the Asian region, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. All the respondents made business trips during the first half of 2012.
