The foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased after five quarters of decline.On October 8, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy announced that the FDI in the third quarter has increased by 13.3% to about $2.95 billion compared with a year earlier. The year-on-year increase in the quarterly FDI is the first time since the 2Q in the last year.The increase in the FDI was led by the service industry. In the manufacturing sector, the FDI recorded $539 million, a 70.2% decrease from a year earlier. But, in the service sector, the foreign investors invested $2.2 billion in financial and resort business, making the FDI increase by 185.6%. The so-called “green field” investment, in which money usually is invested into the establishment of a new company or the expansion of existing facilities, has declined by 7.6% to 1.85 billion. To the M&A, the investment recorded $1.1 billion, a 82.8% increase.The biggest investor is the EU companies. They invested $1.3 billion, putting 60.4% more than a year earlier, accounting for 44.7% of the total FDI. The US companies invested $587 million, a 107% increase. But, the Japanese companies reduced their investment by 84% to $191 million.Pil-goo Kim of the Investment Policy Team, the MOCIE, said, “Strong won and higher oil prices still continue. But, the implementation of the FDI promotion Act encouraged foreign investors to invest more money into Korea. This year, the FDI will reach to $10 billion, the equivalent of the sum of the past three years.”Meanwhile, in the M&A, in the 3rd quarter, ING Insurance invested $210 million to acquire ING Life Insurance and UBS spent $200 million to acquire Daehan Investment and Trust Management. Among the green-field investment, a Spanish company, Acciona, invested $128 million in Yeongyang Wind Power Corporation and a French company, Axa, invested $117 million into Kyobo Car Insurance.