Korean investment climate ranks 17th among 60 nations

Most managers at foreign enterprises think that the investment environment in Korea has not improved significantly since the foreign exchange crisis.

According to a recent survey of 135 executives at the world`s top 1,000 enterprises, Korea ranked 17th among 60 countries in terms of favorable conditions for foreign direct investment. The poll was conducted by AT Kearney, a multinational managing consulting firm in the United States.

Noting that the main reasons for foreigners’ reluctance to invest in Korea are antagonistic labor-management relations and nontransparent management, Kim Suck-Joong, executive director of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), said, “We have not seen immediate results from the government’s reforms of various regulations.”

In the ranking of Asian countries, Korea lagged behind China, Singapore and Thailand, but placed ahead of Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong. AT Kearney said it gave marks out of three based on each country`s openness to investment.

Despite its abrupt economic slowdown, the United States secured the top position among all countries with an average of 2.0 points. China ranked second with 1.7 points and Brazil was third with 1.5 points, followed by Britain, Mexico, Germany, India, Italy, Spain, France, Poland, and Canada.

Park Won-Jae parkwj@donga.com