The report by the finance ministry said public companies such as Korea National Oil Corp., Korea Electric Power Corp., and Korea Resources Corp. poured US$4.5 billion into foreign projects in 2009, up sharply from $1.97 billion the previous year.
From 2000 to 2009, 19 state-run companies invested $9.48 billion overseas, which is equal to 8.8 percent of the country's total outbound investments during the period, it said.
Of the total, $4.19 billion was invested in North America, with the top five destinations for investment being Canada, the United States, Vietnam, the Netherlands and Hong Kong.
Raw minerals and resource development sectors received 86.7 percent of South Korea's overseas investment, followed by electricity and gas with 7.5 percent and financial and insurance with 2.8, the report said.
"In particular, public companies concentrated on energy resource development," a ministry official said, adding that in the last two years, money that went into resources development by state-run corporation reached $5.99 billion.
The official said such trends could spur investment by the private sector in these areas. / Yonhap News
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.