An Assessment of the Investment Environment of Latin America and Investment Strategy of Korean Companies

Korea has been expanding market access through an FTA with Peru and Columbia since the effectivity of its FTA with Chile in 2004 in consideration of the strategic importance of Latin America. However, export companies are having a hard time entering the Latin American market due to the reinforcement of protective trade policies in the said continent. To overcome the protective trade policies of Latin America, it is important to secure competitiveness through overseas direct investment. Currently in Latin America, Brazil and Mexico are the countries that have the highest investments in Korea, with manufacturing and mining having the highest investment proportion. Countries in Latin America implement an open foreigner investment policy for their own countries’ growth and stabilization, but each country has a different investment environment and legal system. Thus, it is necessary to pay particular attention to local investment. Therefore, this study is intended to determine the status of trade and investment focusing on Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Peru, which have high trade volumes with Korea, and to present a strategic plan for Korean company’ investment.