Top 30 Conglomerates in Korea to Invest $133bil. This Year 30대그룹, 올해 투자 7% 증액.. 149조원 푼다

Despite slowing economic growth in Korea, the nation's 30 major family-controlled conglomerates are planning to boost investment this year a move that could help create more jobs. In response, the government has promised to ease regulations on firms. Hwang Ji-hye has the details. Korea's top 30 family-controlled conglomerates, including Samsung and Hyundai Motor, have unveiled their plans to invest a total of 150-trillion won, or roughly 130-billion U.S. dollars this year, up more than seven-percent from a year earlier. Their pledge came during a meeting with the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick on Thursday. The meeting was arranged by the government to find ways to prop up growth in the nation's slumping economy due to unfavorable conditions at home and abroad. Samsung Group, the country's largest conglomerate, plans to invest around 43-billion dollars, while the nation's second largest conglomerate Hyundai Motor Group submitted an investment plan worth more than 12-billion dollars. LG Group says it will invest 17 billion dollars the most in the group's history. A large chunk of the planned investments is in the automobile, chip-making and display industries. The companies also promised to boost employment, hiring nearly 130-thousand new workers this year, up one-and-a-half percent from 2012. In response to the pledges, the trade, industry and energy minister said the government will do its best to help revitalize the economy. He said the government plans to further remove regulations that disrupt investment by private companies. The Korean economy grew by only two percent last year -- the slowest pace in three years due to sluggish exports and weak domestic demand. Hwang Ji-hye, Arirang News.