Seoul, Nov 2 (IANS) Facility investment in South Korea surged to a four-year high during the first nine months of this year, driven by the automotive and semiconductor sectors, data showed on Sunday.

The overall facility investment index across all industries rose 4.3 percent in the January-September period from a year earlier, the largest increase since 2021, when the figure jumped 11.3 percent on-year, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

The growth was led by rising investments in automotive and chip industries, reports Yonhap news agency.

Facility investment in the auto sector jumped 15.6 percent on-year, marking the largest increase in 25 years since 2000.

The car industry has been expanding investment to build electric vehicle (EV) production facilities and enhance future competitiveness in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

Investment in semiconductor manufacturing equipment advanced 15.7 percent, the largest growth since 2021.

Experts say that the growth was attributed to the completion of memory chip inventory adjustments and the sector entering the so-called super-cycle driven by the AI paradigm shift.

In September alone, facility investment jumped 12.7 percent, rebounding from an on-month decline a month earlier.

Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, the official sideline event of the APEC leaders’ summit, wrapped up its three-day run after offering insights into top global business leaders’ views on the future of the global economy and key industries, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and energy.

Held under the theme “Bridge, Business, Beyond,” this year’s gathering brought together some 1,700 global business figures to South Korea’s southeastern city of Gyeongju, including AI chip giant Nvidia’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang, big pharma Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato, Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser.

From Korea, Chey Tae-won, SK Group chief and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) chair; Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong; Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung; and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo participated in the summit, exploring opportunities to expand their global business ties.

—IANS

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