According to the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAiH), South Korea invested more in Poland than China for the first time since the PAiH's creation. South Korean invest-ments during 2017 were reported to be around 1.9 billion euro, nearly 500 million euro more than that of Chinese firms.
In general, the PAiH reports that its South Korea's investment portfolio grew by over 20% that year, exceeding the previous year's value by over 300 million euros. Though the US still has the largest number of projects (at 51) in the country, American investors are in no position to compete with South Korea's monetary investment.
While all of this does help the local economy, the PAiH continues to stress that job crea-tion is as, if not more important than monetary investment. For instance, JP Morgan's investment in Poland is estimated to create 2,500 jobs, three times more than those cre-ated by the new LG Chem factory.
LG Chem and Asian Investment
According to LG Chem representatives, the company's new Polish factory is positioned to become the largest electric vehicle battery facility in the world. The factory is situated next to the Volkswagen Group, which plans to invest some 20 billion euros in zero-emission vehicles over the next 12 years, and the two companies have already forged a strong partnership.
According to Krzysztof Senger, the Executive VP of PAiH, much of the investment in Polish manufacturing is headed toward the electromobility industry, which will make the coun-try the European leader in that sector, "with a fully developed ecosystem of producers and sub-suppliers,"
Investors from countries such as South Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, the UAE, and India make up half the 3.7 million in investment projects currently underway in Po-land. This supports PAiH's insistence that they make an effort to establish more offices in Asia.
