Thanks to the strong global stock market, overseas financial investment by domestic companies increased significantly, and foreign direct investment in the first quarter of this year increased by 36% compared to a year ago. In particular, as the inflow of funds into the U.S. financial market became noticeable, foreign direct investment in the United States exceeded $10 billion for the first time. According to the ‘Overseas Direct Investment Trends in the First Quarter of 2026’ announced by the Ministry of Finance and Economy on the 30th, the scale of foreign direct investment (based on total investment) in the first quarter of this year was $21.74 billion, an increase of 36.2% compared to the same period last year ($15.96 billion). The trend of expansion in foreign direct investment that has continued since the third quarter of last year has continued this year. By industry, investment in the financial and insurance industry was the largest at $13.38 billion, an increase of 63.0% compared to the same period last year. Among all foreign direct investments, the financial and insurance industry accounted for 61.5%. On the other hand, manufacturing investment decreased by 5.7% to $3.4 billion. Investment in the information and communication industry and science and technology service industry also recorded high growth rates, increasing by 220.4% and 322.2%, respectively. By region, investment in North America was 10%.