Philippines joins Pax Silica

The Philippines has joined Pax Silica, a U.S.-led supply-chain pact, and Washington says the first project will be a 4,000-acre industrial hub in Luzon. (state.gov) The U.S. State Department said on April 16 that the Philippines became the 13th Pax Silica signatory. The department listed Australia, Finland, India, Israel, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, Singapore, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and now the Philippines. (state.gov) The planned site sits in the Luzon Economic Corridor and covers 4,000 acres, or about 1,620 hectares. U.S. officials said it will be designated an Economic Security Zone and described it as the first “AI-native industrial acceleration hub” under Pax Silica. (state.gov) Pax Silica is the State Department’s program for “AI and supply chain security,” aimed at building trusted networks for chips, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, energy, and data infrastructure. The department says the effort is built around allies and partners rather than open-ended global sourcing. (state.gov) That focus lands in the Philippines as governments and manufacturers try to spread production across more countries after years of chip shortages, export controls, and geopolitical friction. Reuters reported that the program is meant to safeguard the technology chain from critical minerals to computing and data infrastructure. (rappler.com) The Luzon Economic Corridor was already a U.S.-backed investment zone before this week’s announcement. The U.S. Commerce Department says the corridor links Metro Manila, Batangas, Subic, Clark, and other industrial and logistics centers in central and northern Luzon. (trade.gov) Philippine officials have spent the past two years pitching the country as a chip manufacturing and assembly base, with workforce and policy programs tied to the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. The Philippine Board of Investments said in September 2024 that it was launching semiconductor workforce-development and public-policy workshops to strengthen the country’s role in the global industry. (boi.gov.ph) Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said the new zone would help position the Philippines inside a more secure technology network, according to the Philippine News Agency. Reuters, via Rappler, reported that Washington cast the project as part of a broader push to reduce dependence on rival nations for key inputs. (pna.gov.ph) (rappler.com) The next test is execution: land, power, transport links, and tenants. For now, the April 16 announcement gives the Philippines a formal place in a U.S.-aligned chip and artificial intelligence supply-chain map centered on Luzon. (state.gov)