S Korea seeks more Chinese investments

S KOREA: The South Korean Government said Thursday that it has set up a separate promotion division within the Korea-Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) as part of its efforts to increase the inflow of direct Chinese investment.

According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, it has launched the “China Desk,” that will operate as part of the KOTRA, in order to enhance investment opportunities between the two countries while bolstering business networks and sharing investment data as well.

“The new ‘China Desk’ signifies the South Korean government’s willingness to attract more Chinese investment, and we expect it to significantly boost investment from the Chinese business community to the South Korean market,” the ministry said in a statement. China currently holds the world’s largest foreign reserves at 2. 4 trillion US dollars and has invested 55.9 billion U.S. dollars abroad in 2008, but only 100 million U.S. dollars, or 0.2 percent of the total, was invested in South Korea, the ministry said.

South Korea, meanwhile, has attracted about 11 billion US dollars in foreign investment in 2009, and expects to increase it to roughly 13 billion US dollars by the end of this year, it added. Seoul, Xinhua