The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held the "Service Industry Investment Week" online from April 22 to 25 to support overseas investment attraction for domestic innovative service companies. A total of 42 domestic companies in the fields of gaming, entertainment, fintech, and business services participated in the event, conducting virtual consultations with strategic and financial investors from the Middle East, North America, and Japan.
With the recent global spread of Korean cultural content, global investors are showing increasing interest in Korea's service industry. Major global online video service companies, including Netflix, are expanding direct investment in the domestic content sector. In addition, sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia and Singapore are strengthening investments in the entertainment sector, while venture capital firms from Silicon Valley in the United States are increasing investments in edtech and fintech companies.
A total of 15 investment institutions participated in this consultation event, including Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, venture capital firms under major Japanese financial groups, and Silicon Valley-based investors from the United States, resulting in more than 50 consultation sessions. Investors showed particularly strong interest in fintech, AI-based security solutions, and content production companies.
KOTRA held the "Service Industry Investment Week" from the 22nd to the 25th to support foreign investment attraction for domestic innovative service companies. Domestic companies participating gathered to attend IR material preparation training. KOTRA
KOTRA recruited participating companies in collaboration with organizations such as Seoul Fintech Lab, Gyeonggi Content Agency, Korea M&A Exchange, and the Association of Small Giants to discover promising companies. In addition, KOTRA provided training on preparing and presenting investment relations (IR) materials for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises with limited experience in attracting investment, thereby supporting the strengthening of their practical capabilities.
This event is expected to lead to tangible investment outcomes based on pre-matched investment relations materials. Even amid ongoing global economic uncertainty, the plan is to actively promote the competitiveness of Korea's service industry and focus on expanding opportunities for overseas expansion.
A representative of a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund stated, "Korea is a key country for expanding our future investment portfolio, and we have a particular interest in outstanding companies in the fields of gaming, content, and entertainment."
Kim Taehyung, head of KOTRA Invest Korea, emphasized, "Attracting overseas investment in the service industry is essential to continue the global success of Korean content and the achievements of the popular culture industry. We will strengthen our support to connect domestic companies with excellent ideas and technological capabilities to global investors."
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