President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday assured the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in the US that government agencies and the private sector are ready to work with the American association if it plans to invest or expand in the Philippines.
“You can depend on partners in the Philippines that we are ready to work with you. From the government, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Board of Investments, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority will all be at the forefront,” President Marcos said during a roundtable meeting with SIA.
“From the private sector, we have the Semiconductors and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, represented today by the Chairman and some of its member-companies. Another is the Private Sector Advisory Council or the PSAC, the members of whom come from different private sector groups.”
President Marcos said the administration puts the semiconductor and electronics industries as among its top priority sectors and with the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act. It can grant incentives for up to 40 years for highly desirable projects with a minimum investment capacity of PhP50 billion, or roughly more or less US$1 billion or at least 10,000 job generation.
The Philippines aspires to participate more significantly 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.
And as the US increases its front-end wafer capacity for advanced technologies and products under the CHIPS Act, the Philippines stands ready to absorb and support the additional corresponding capacity for assembly, packaging, and test that will be required.
But it also seeks to go beyond and higher in the value chain, such as in chip design and is earnest in increasing its activity in this space, for which partnership with the SIA and its members would significantly accelerate the realization of that aspiration.
These can be done through the establishment of a lab-scale wafer fabrication facility in the country can support the Science and Technology Center (STC) that the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Foundation Inc. (SEIPI) is proposing.
Another viable alternative is to have a Philippine-based US Semicon company to build a proof-of-concept (POC) wafer fab near their facility with the participation of promising candidates such as Texas Instruments and Analog Devices.
Marcos also touted the 50 million-strong Filipino workforce — highly educated, English proficient, and highly trainable with very fast learning curves.
“We assure you of this Administration’s support to keep industrial peace, provide a world-class workforce that is responsive to the needs of the industry, and enhance business environment that will be conducive to further growth,” he said.
Marcos said the government is putting in all our efforts to further capacitate them to become work-and future-ready and remain globally competitive for priority industries such as the semiconductor industry.
And under the CHIPS Act, there may be facilities that can be tapped for human resources development and capacity-building training so Filipino workers can better support the semiconductor and electronics operations of US companies in the Philippines. PND
