The private services industry outpaced manufacturing as top recipient of FDI pledges as it stands to receive 57.6 percent or PhP 2.3 billion of the total FDI approved during the quarter. The investments are mostly in the area of information and communication technology (ICT) such as call centers, business process outsourcing and software development.

The Netherlands surpassed all other countries, as it intended to pour in PhP 848.9 million worth of investments, representing 21.4 percent of the total approved FDI for the quarter. These were intended mostly to finance private services industries.

The combined approved investments of Filipino and foreign nationals reached PhP 19.4 billion in the first quarter of 2009, 51.5 percent lower than the PhP 40.1 billion registered in the same period last year. The reduction in pledges made by foreign investors contributed 41.9 percentage points to the total decline.