SEOUL, May 5 (Bernama) - The major 600 South Korean companies will increase their investments by 13.9 percent this year despite the economic downturn, as a survey showed Sunday.
The 600 largest companies in South Korea in terms of sales said they expect their investment to reach a total of 129.7 billion won (118.4 billion dollars) this year, compared to 113.9 billion won (103.9 billion dollars) last year, according to the survey by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI, according to its acronym in English), the largest business association in South Korea.
The survey showed that firms increase their investments in facilities by 16.3 percent to 106.6 trillion won (97.3 billion dollars) a year earlier, while spending on research and development increased 3.6 percent to 23.1 trillion won (21.0 billion dollars).
Regarding the reasons will expand investment, 27.9 percent of respondents said they will increase investments in advance to increase their competitive advantage.
The FKI said that if the government creates a favorable environment for companies, is likely to increase further big business investments, which contribute to creating jobs and stimulating the economy.
The FKI has called on the government to be cautious in drawing bills on clusters, since the regulations may affect the fourth largest economy in Asia.
The government expects the Korean economy to grow by 2.3 percent this year, while the central bank sets its growth forecast for 2013 at 2.6 percent.
