Companies eyeing investments at the New Clark City innovation site now number more than 50, including major global technology firms, according to figures from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority cited by Executive Secretary Ralph Recto.
That investor interest centers on Pax Silica, a US-led project at New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac that began operations this past April. Recto, who toured the location on Friday, described it as a rare chance for the country to anchor industries set to define where the world economy is headed. Billed as the first AI-native industrial acceleration hub in the Philippines, the 4,000-acre site is being built to accommodate chip fabrication plants, facilities for processing critical minerals, hyperscale data centers, AI infrastructure, and advanced research operations.
The visit was part of a broader directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who according to Malacañang wants the country positioned quickly as a “semiconductor and AI (artificial intelligence) hub” in Asia. In a weekend statement, Recto said the President had assigned “a high national priority” to attracting such industries “so that Filipinos can benefit from great jobs, technology transfer and economic boost.”
Recto framed the goal in concrete terms during the trip. “We want more factories rising here. We want more breakthroughs and innovations developed here. We want more Filipino engineers, technicians and researchers building their futures here,” he said. Summarizing the marching orders from the President, he added: “The President’s order is to move forward the assets we have into the making us semiconductor and AI hub in Asia.”
Earlier that day, the Executive Secretary stopped by a Texas Instruments plant in Clark, Pampanga, singling out the firm’s local arm as “a pioneer and an innovator.” He said the company illustrates the kind of foreign player willing to bet on Filipino talent. “Texas Instruments is a strong example of a company that has placed its confidence in the Filipino worker, the Filipino engineer, and the Philippines as a manufacturing and innovation hub,” Recto said.
To channel this push, the government is leaning on the Luzon Economic Corridor as a gateway for chip and AI firms, working alongside the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Advisory Council, which Recto heads. The corridor is a shared infrastructure and economic undertaking with the United States and Japan, designed to strengthen links among Subic Bay, Clark, Manila, and Batangas and to lift trade, investment, and development across the region.
