SEOUL, KOREA - A study said major corporations will increase their investment in plants and equipment this year. Korea Finance Corp. said on May 11 that a survey taken for 47 days between March 10 and April 25 on 3,064 companies (1,815 large and mid-sized firms and 1,249 small businesses) revealed that the total volume of investment planned for this year reaches 136.1 trillion won, up 4.5 percent from last year.

 

Of this, small enterprises will spend 6.7 trillion won while their larger brethren will make 129.4 trillion won in investment. The 136.1-trillion-won investment is almost at the same level of 136.2 trillion won of the preliminary figure surveyed late last year. Meanwhile, the actual investment in plants and equipment made last year was 130.3 trillion won, down 0.6 percent from 2012 and down 6.9 percent from the earlier planned volume of 139.9 trillion won.

 

A Korea Finance Corp. official said, "These figures suggest there are expectations on improved economic conditions domestically and internationally. Given the trend for the past few years toward slightly shrinking actual investment from earlier plans, the government needs to come up with packages to encourage investment and maintain investment momentum."