The Korea Overseas Investment Fair 2011 kicked off Thursday in Seoul to provide Korean companies with comprehensive information on foreign investment, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, its organizer.

In the two-day event at COEX in southern Seoul, officials from 29 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America had one-on-one meetings and discussed business opportunities with about 500 Korean firms including POSCO and GS Engineering & Construction.

KOTRA also held seminars of some participant countries on the unique investment environment, incentives and special projects, as well as investment cooperation symposiums with specialists from agencies like the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

“The world’s investment environment changes minute by minute,” KOTRA President Cho Hwan-Eik said in his opening remarks. “It’s critical for local companies to collect up-to-date information on overseas fields to make successful investment.”

The participant countries include not only long-term investment destinations such as China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia but also emerging economies like South Africa, Kenya, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.

Following the recent free-trade agreement between Korea and the European Union, a number of EU members such as Germany, France, Switzerland, Hungary and Estonia joined to lure potential Korean investors, KOTRA said.

During the national seminars, Korean investors showed their strong interests in the next best investment candidate after China, as sessions of India, Vietnam and Indonesia drew two to three times their maximum capacity of 100 guests, whereas around 150 people registered with the one for China, the agency added.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)