More than half of Japanese companies operating in South Korea plan to expand their business in the near future on expectations of more demand, a survey showed Tuesday.
According to the survey of 231 Japanese companies doing business in Korea, 52.8 percent said that they plan to expand their businesses here "within one or two years."
The survey conducted by the Japan External Trade Organization, however, showed that the ratio was 7.6 percentage points down from the same poll conducted a year earlier.
Nearly 90 percent of those seeking to expand their businesses here cited a possible hike in sales, while 38.3 percent mentioned "high growth potential."
Of the companies surveyed, 42.9 percent said that they will stick to the status quo, while 3 percent planned to reduce their business size and 1.3 percent said they will pull out from South Korea.
Meanwhile, 76.2 percent of those companies expected operating profits last year, with 11.7 percent forecasting the opposite.
Their outlooks for this year, however, are not as bright, with only 40.6 percent saying that their operating profits will expand in 2015, the survey showed. (Yonhap)
