S. Korean conglomerates to boost 2010 investments by 16.3 pct

SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top 30 conglomerates plan to boost their
investments by 16.3 percent this year to handle rebounding demand at home and
abroad, the nation's largest business lobby said Friday.

The Federation of Korean Industries also said the conglomerates would hire a
total of 79,199 workers this year, up 8.7 percent from last year.
The plans were unveiled at a meeting with President Lee Myung-bak earlier in the
day.
This year, the conglomerates plans to spend a total of 87.1 trillion won (US$77.5
billion), compared with 74.8 trillion won last year.
At the meeting, the federation urged the government to reform labor markets and
revise regulations to create more jobs.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Samsung Group said it will invest 26 trillion
won this year and hire about 19,000 workers.
"The size of investment will probably rise, depending on economic conditions,"
Lee Soo-bin, chairman of Samsung Life Insurance Co., told reporters.
Buoyed by a slow global recovery, the Korean economy expanded 3.2 percent in the
third quarter of last year, marking the fastest increase in more than seven
years.
In a report last month, the Bank of Korea predicted that the economy would grow
4.6 percent this year, compared with an expected 0.2 percent increase for last
year.
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