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 PPI data update note 52                                                                                           July 2011

           Infrastructure Investment in World Bank client countries by Korean sponsors

From 1990-2010, project sponsors from the Republic of Korea implemented nineteen infrastructure projects in low and
middle income countries with investment commitments (hereafter investment) totaling US$4.9 billion (Figure1). Investment
during all periods except 2001-2005 was dominated by the energy sector (US$4 billion), followed by the telecom sector
(US$0.9 billion).

                             Figure 1: Private infrastructure investment in developing
                                    countries by Korean sponsors (1990-2010)
                   3.5   BIllions USD                                                         Projects   9
                   3.0                                                                                   8
                                                                                                         7
                   2.5
                                                                                                         6
                   2.0                                                                                   5
                   1.5                                                                                   4
                                                                                                         3
                   1.0
                                                                                                         2
                   0.5                                                                                   1
                   0.0                                                                                   0
                             1990-1995          1996-2000          2001-2005            2006-2010
                              Energy       Telecom          Transport/Water         Number of Projects
                                                                Source: World Bank and PPIAF, PPI Database


Private activity by sponsors from Korea has risen sharply in the last five year period (2006-2010), both in terms of numbers
of projects (8) and investments (US$3.3 billion). In fact, investment from 2006-2010 was larger than all previous periods,
and accounted for 67% of total investment from 1990-2010. Four large electricity generation projects drove this increase in
investment. In 2007, Korean companies participated in two divestitures of large scale power plants with investments of
US$965 million in China and Nigeria. Most recently, in 2010, two large greenfield power plants with investments of US$1.2
billion closed financing in Philippines and Indonesia.

Although Korean investment was spread across five
regions, it was heavily concentrated in East Asia and the                       Figure 2: Destination of Korean
                                                                              Private Infrastructure Investment by
Pacific (EAP) region with 78% or total investment (Figure
                                                                                       Region (1990-2010)
2). This investment lacked a single country focus.
However, within EAP region, private activity was
                                                                                            6%
concentrated in China with three energy projects and one                               5%
water project; Philippines with three energy projects and                      9%
Mongolia with three telecom projects. Other destinations                  2%
for Korean investment in EAP included Indonesia, Papua
New Guinea and Vietnam.
                                                                                                             78%
Over seventeen different Korean sponsors participated in
these investments. In most cases, Korean firms invested
as part of a larger consortium, often with other Korean
firms. The projects represented here had at least fifteen
percent participation. Sponsors that appeared most often                 East Asia and Pacific
were: Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO) Korea                         Europe and Central Asia
Telecom Corporation, and SK Telecom.                                     Middle East and North Africa
                                                                         South Asia
                                                                                                   Source: PPI Database
                                                                         Sub-Saharan Africa


 This note was written by Alexander Nicholas Jett, research analyst, Finance, Economics, and Urban Development
 Department, Sustainable Development Network, World Bank.