The US said it plans to help build a first-of-its-kind industrial hub in the Philippines to boost production of inputs crucial to US supply chains.
The 4,000-acre hub is intended to be “a purpose-built platform for allied manufacturing” and “an investment acceleration hub where the specific industrial activities are shaped by market demand,” the US Department of State said on Thursday.
The project — touted as an “economic security zone” — would be within the Luzon Economic Corridor, a flagship economic project backed by the US and Japan on the main Philippine island.
Photo: EPA
The project was also described as “the first artificial intelligence [AI]-native industrial acceleration hub” under the Pax Silica Initiative, a Washington-led supply chain alliance that also includes Australia, India, Israel, Japan and the UK.
The Philippines became the 13th country to join the grouping under the US Department of State’s flagship effort on AI and supply chain security.
The hub is yet another step to deepen economic ties between the US and the Philippines, as the treaty allies also bolster their military relationship.
It is a win for Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has sought to capitalize on his country’s long-standing defense alliance with the US to secure more investments.
Marcos has bolstered security ties with Washington, allowing US troops to access more Philippine bases and deploy advanced weapons amid Manila’s territorial dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea. At the same time, the US has helped Manila woo US investors and extended funding for a railway project.
The industrial economic zone “can leverage the Philippines’ geographic centrality in the Indo-Pacific region, its young and technically skilled workforce, and its deepening alliance with the United States,” the department said.
The Philippines holds significant reserves of nickel, copper, chromite and cobalt, which are increasingly vital to global supply chains, it added.
Manila and Washington earlier signed a pact to boost cooperation on critical minerals.
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