Newsweek magazine says foreign companies are growingly interested in investing in North Korea amid progress in talks on ending the communist country's nuclear program.

The weekly said foreign investors are more careful in developing economies due to the high risk, but that several have put their money in the North to get a headstart.

Egypt's Orascom has purchased half of North Korean cement company for 115 million U.S. dollars, while companies from South Korea, China, Britain and Germany have also made investments.

Foreign investors also say they find Pyongyang's plan to close its main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon "encouraging news" for investment.

Experts say that if the United States recognizes products manufactured at the Kaesong Industrial Complex as made in South Korea, industrial parks in North Korea will grow larger.