Korea ranked No. 2 among seven Asian countries in terms of its investment attractiveness to foreign companies, a recent survey from the state-funded Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) showed.
Kotra said that the country received 7.03 out of 10 points on the survey, the second-highest behind Singapore. The agency surveyed 243 companies across 21 countries in 28 categories, which included questions on the countries' tax systems, labor costs and safety measures, among others.
Hong Kong took No. 3 in terms of investment appeal, followed by Japan, Taiwan, China and Malaysia.
Korea was No. 1 in social infrastructure and No. 2 in terms of its market, including market size, growth potential and accessibility to other countries. It also ranked second in terms of R&D and innovation, a section that focused on government support, technology levels and patent protection.
“We should recognize that foreign companies have rated us highly in our accessibility to China and Japan, and also our free trade agreement network,” Kotra said in a statement.
However, foreign companies felt that Korea is below average in financing, government administration and social and political stability, the survey showed.
The top scorer, Singapore, led in terms of its living environment, political and geographical factors and government administration. Hong Kong was No. 1 in financing and taxes while Japan had the best scores in R&D and innovation, the survey showed.
China led in market size, growth potential and labor resources but was the lowest in R&D, administration, financing and political and geographical factors.