Samsung Group to invest record $41.56bn this year

South Korea's Samsung Group said Tuesday it would invest a record 47.8 trillion won ($41.56 billion) this year and hire 26,000 new employees, also a record. The country's largest conglomerate said in a statement that despite the global economic uncertainty it wants to expand future growth engines and contribute to the national economy. This year's planned investment is a 12 percent increase on 42.8 trillion won spent in 2011. The group said it would invest 31 trillion won in facilities, up 11 percent from last year; spend 13.6 trillion won on research and development, up 13 percent and spend 3.2 trillion on capital investment, up 10 percent. "We will make large investments in our core businesses as well as new business sectors," said the group whose flagship is Samsung Electronics, the world's largest technology company by sales. The electronics firm has already announced plans for a sharp rise in investment in new business areas, at a time when its mainstay businesses -- memory chips and liquid crystal displays -- have been buffeted by the lacklustre world economy. It is made up of some 66 affiliates, with businesses ranging from electronics to finance and insurance.