Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual encouraged US companies to invest in the Philippine semiconductor industry in a roundtable meeting at the sidelines of the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit 2023 in San Francisco, United States.
Pascual underscored the Philippines’ strong economic growth, coupled with the country’s comparative advantages including a huge pool of young talent, a competitive business environment, strategic market access and robust government support.
“Within the semiconductor sector, the United States, particularly through partnerships and support from the Semiconductor Industry Association [SIA] and the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International [SEMI], stands out as a pivotal ally. Our two countries’ collaboration runs deep, reflecting a strong alignment across various levels, where the previously mentioned advantages seamlessly complement the advanced technologies of your country. Meanwhile, at the policy level, both parties are actively engaged in the Indo-Pacific Regional and Bilateral Policy Framework negotiations,” he said.
Pascual said the DTI is fostering close collaboration with local industry associations, such as the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. (SEIPI). He emphasized the country’s robust electronics industry which contributed 62.27 percent to the total exports.
He said Philippine merchandise exports soared to about $78 billion, making the Philippines among the top 10 global suppliers for nearly 200 products and among the top 20 suppliers for 500 diverse products.
Pascual also outlined the strength of the Philippines’ service export, particularly in the manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others (MSPOI), which recorded $41 billion in 2022 placing the country as the second-largest exporter in the ASEAN region.
He said the country was aspiring to grow its participation in the US semiconductor value chain in relation to the CHIPS Act and with the executive order of President Joe Biden to work with American allies and partners to strengthen the collective supply chain resilience.
“We aspire to go beyond our current activities in assembly, packaging and test of semiconductors, into higher value segments of the value chain such as in chip design and putting up a lab-scale wafer fabrication facility,” he said.
He said that in strengthening the semiconductor sector in the Philippines, the SIA and SEMI would be pivotal allies for strong collaboration to achieve our goals and firm up further the relations of both countries.