Of the total approved FDI, 78.7 percent or PhP 15.7 billion were intended for the manufacturing industry, the large chunk of which were in shipbuilding and manufacture of electronic goods.

Korea topped the list of foreign investors, pledging PhP 8.5 billion or 42.6 percent of the total FDI committed for the quarter.  Majority of Korea’s investments were intended to fund shipbuilding projects.

The combined approved investments of Filipino and foreign nationals reached PhP 39.1 billion in the first quarter of 2008, 6.3 percent lower than the PhP 41.7 billion registered in the same period last year.  The reduction in pledges made by Filipino investors who shared 48.9 percent of the combined approved investments contributed –11.3 percentage points to the total decline.