The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said Thursday. Foreign investments in domestic industries last year rose 1 percent from a year earlier to a record U.S. $15.6 billion.

The number of cases for foreign investments came to 4,136, up a steep 96.8 percent from 2,102 in the previous year.

Of the tthe total amount, investments below $5 million grew 6 percentage points from a year earlier to 98.8 percent.

By region, European Union (EU) countries accounted for 29.4 percent of the total amount, followed by the U.S. with 18.6 percent, and Japan with 15.6 percent.

Japanese investments grew 39.9 percent while investments from the EU and the U.S. shrank by 26.4 percent and 22 percent respectively.

A total of $8.5 billion was invested in service areas, $7.1 billion in manufacturing and only $20 million in primary industries such as agriculture, fisheries and mining.

The ministry set this year's foreign investment goal at $15 billion, down 1 billion from last year's.