February 9, 2000 
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| February 9, 2000 | atimes.com | |
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| The Koreas Nation becomes a haven for small foreign investors SEOUL - Korea is no longer a country for large foreign corporate investors only, but also a haven for small individual investors that newspapers describe as ''ant troops'' with small individual investments taking up 95.4 percent of total foreign investment in January. Total foreign investment in the month came to $1.12 billion over 302 cases, up 15.9 percent in amount and 130.5 percent in the number of cases compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry. The development is welcome news for the country as it shows foreign investment and investors have become diversified, not only in investment amount per case, but also in business areas. Foreign direct investment from 1995 to 1998 averaged just 100 cases per month, but began to exceed 200 for four consecutive months from October last year due to a hike in the number of small individual investors. To look at the pattern of direct foreign investment in detail, small individual investments increased substantially with only two cases going over $100 million. Those under $5 million made up 95.4 percent of total investment in 288 cases. Four ranged from $10 million to $100 million, with amounts in the range of $5 million to $10 million totaling eight cases. The areas of investment ranged widely as well. Small investments went to foodstuff, textiles, timber, metal and drug industries. The service industry also attracted ant troops. Eleven investment cases went to electricity and gas, 12 to retail and wholesale, 26 to food and lodging and 21 to the financial industry. Experts say the new development is owed to the foreign investment promotion law and the operation of a related support center, attracting foreign investor attention to Korea. Such foreign investments did not come directly to Korea, but were made through paper companies registered with tax havens abroad, most notably the Cayman Islands. ATI Co of the United States invested $800 million in Anam Semiconductor via its affiliate in the Cayman Islands. Many multinational companies are depending on such a practice to save taxes. A considerable number of foreigners are also investing in Korea through Singapore to save taxes. A ministry official said more such investment is expected in the future. (Asia Pulse/Yonhap) | |||||||||
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