The top 600 companies in South Korea are likely to increase investment by 13.9 percent this year from a year earlier despite the economic slowdown, a survey showed Sunday.

South Korea's 600 biggest companies in terms of sales said their investments are expected to reach a combined 129.7 trillion won (US$118.4 billion) this year, compared with 113.9 trillion won the previous year, according to the poll made by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the country's top business lobby.

The survey showed that they will increase facility investment by 16.3 percent to 106.6 trillion won from a year ago while spending on research and development will gain 3.6 percent to 23.1 trillion won.

As for reasons why they will expand investment, 27.9 percent of the respondents said that they will boost investment in advance to increase their competitive edge.

The FKI said that if the government creates a friendly environment for firms, larger companies are likely to further increase investment, which will contribute to creating jobs and boosting the economy.

The FKI has called on the government to take a cautious approach in drafting bills on conglomerates as regulations could eventually undermine Asia's fourth-largest economy.

The government expects the South Korean economy to grow 2.3 percent this year while the central bank puts its 2013 growth estimate at 2.6 percent.

(Yonhap News)