President Marcos wants a bigger slice of the pie by training world-class Filipino professionals to take on bigger roles in the global semiconductor industry, particularly in the production, fabrication, and designing of chips.
(From left) President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. and Semiconductor Industry Association President and CEO John Neuffer shake hands during the latter’s courtesy call at Malacañan on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Presidential Photo)
He said this in a meeting with Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) President and Chief Executive Officer John Neuffer during a Palace courtesy call on Monday, Dec. 16, wherein the President recognized the huge part played by semiconductor manufacturing in the country’s growth for many years.
But he expressed confidence that the Philippines has more to give and can increase its presence in terms of supplying semiconductor products amid the expansions in the digital space today.
“We thought that this would present an opportunity for the Philippines to expand, but not only in terms of production, or fabrication of chips but we decided that it’s time for us to move up the value chain and start looking into designing as well,” the President told Neuffer, the head of one of America’s top export industries, particularly in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research.
“And this came at a very opportune time because there are very many new technologies that have to be understood and then applied and then scaled up to a manufacturing level so that it becomes [a] significant contributor to GDP (gross domestic product),” Marcos added.
The Chief Executive also described the semiconductor manufacturing in the country as a “very, very fertile area for development” because it only has a small part of the actual global supply chain, compared to industry giants Taiwan and China.
With the opportunity to grow the country’s role in the industry, the President said the government is putting together more details into a roadmap to make the Philippines more competitive.
“We have the experience. We already have so many of the players in the country who are already doing the manufacturing and perhaps it’s just a question of developing it further. And in fact, the way technology goes is not something that you have a choice of, you just have to keep up,” Marcos furthered.
“We have all kinds of issues when it comes to digital space, when it comes to planning our semiconductor industry. They are new and we’re trying to wrestle with how to deal with them. Unfortunately, geopolitics have become more important.”
To further develop the semiconductor industry, particularly in workforce training and technology transfer, the President highlighted the importance of the Philippine-United States relations in terms of collaborating to ensure the Philippines play a crucial role in the future of global technology.
For his part, Neuffer shared that the US government has initiatives to continuously secure the supply of semiconductors, particularly in the American tech industry.
“The State Department is spending $500 million for five years mostly on helping our friends and partners like the Philippines develop talent,” Neuffer said.
“The participation of your government has been very rich… you’re taking it very seriously and we really appreciate it,” he added.
In 2023, the Philippines’ biggest exports to the US were semiconductors and integrated circuits amounting to $3.1 billion, or 23.3 percent of its total exports to the United States.