The nation’s 30 largest conglomerates said on Friday they will increase investment by 12.3 percent to 151.4 trillion won ($131.5 billion) this year.

They also said they will hire 123,000 new people this year, up 2.2 percent from last year, during a meeting with Knowledge Economy Minister Hong Suk-woo.

Executives of the top business groups by asset value told Hong they will raise recruitment of high school graduates by 6.9 percent to 37,261 people.

Large-scale investments include development of next-generation memory semiconductors, expansion of production lines for system semiconductors, organic light-emitting diode displays, establishment of the fourth-generation Long Term Evolution network and development of new technologies for new cars and eco-friendly cars.

Major investment will also be made for expansion of FINEX plants for steelmaking, wind power development, polysilicon solar cells, production of rechargeable batteries and development of thin film solar cell modules,

Executives from the conglomerates asked the government for support in development of renewable energy, and research and development for new technologies.

They also asked the government to be clear about regulations on noise from wind power generation, improve the validation process for solar energy, establish infrastructure for electric cars such as charging stations, secure more factory sites and offer more tax benefits for investment in energy-saving facilities and high-tech industrial R&D.

Hong said the government will try to resolve the problems and reflect some of the requests in a package of measures due in March to encourage corporate investment.

The minister also said he will hold another meeting with representatives of the largest businesses in the second half of this year to check on their investment and recruitment plans and occasionally meet with small and medium-sized companies.

The participants of Friday’s meeting agreed to make shared growth with smaller companies a firm part of their corporate culture, contribute towards stabilizing prices by cutting costs and overcome power shortages when demand peaks in the winter.

By Kim So-hyun
(sophie@heraldcorp.com)