Korean OFDI: investment strategies and corporate motivations for investing abroad

International flows of capital in the form of foreign direct investment have become an important means of promoting economic development in many countries. The spread of globalization and the activity of transnational corporations have been driving forces behind these flows have already been adequately analyzed. An important new phenomenon of recent decades is the rapid increase in the outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) flows from developing countries. Much less attention has been paid to outward investment by developing countries, mainly because it was negligible until recently.OFDI from emerging economies is playing an increasingly important role in enhancing the competitiveness of their companies and their integration into the global economy. It helps strengthen national firms' competitiveness by providing access to strategic assets, technology, skills, natural resources and markets, and in improving their efficiency. The internationalization provides greater opportunities for international cooperation, especially South-South, as the bulk of the investment goes to other developing countries.Therefore, the governments of many emerging market countries are now paying closer attention to addressing their enterprise competitiveness through OFDI. In this regard, there is a need to further analyze the trends and features of OFDI to help emerging markets' governments design and implement an appropriate framework to benefit from this phenomenon.