The Philippines, Japan, and the US announced the launch of the Luzon Economic Corridor, the first Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment corridor in the Indo-Pacific, which aims to accelerate coordinated investments in high-impact infrastructure projects in Subic Bay.

President Marcos, US President Joseph Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio announced this in their Joint Vision Statement following their historic trilateral summit in Washington, DC on Thursday, April 11.

In their statement, the three leaders said the Luzon Economic Corridor, which is part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment- Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Accelerator, will support connectivity between Subic Bay, Clark, Manila, and Batangas.

"The Luzon Corridor is a demonstration of our enhanced economic cooperation, focused on delivering tangible investments across multiple sectors," they said.

"Through this corridor... Japan, the Philippines, and the United States commit to accelerating coordinated investments in high-impact infrastructure projects," they added.

These include projects in rail, port modernization, clean energy and semiconductor supply chains and deployments, agribusiness, and civilian port upgrades at Subic Bay.

Japan has long been supporting connectivity in this area, including rails and roads, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

According to the three leaders, they plan to work with multilateral organizations and the private sector to attract quality, transformative investments. They plan on holding a trilateral event promoting investment in the Luzon Corridor on the margins of the Indo-Pacific Business Forum in Manila in May.

In addition, they said that the US International Development Finance Corporation intends to open a regional office in the Philippines to facilitate further investments across the country.

However, they expressed concern over and strongly opposed economic coercion. They stressed the importance of a rules-based economic order and underscored the need for close coordination in dealing with economic coercion.

Economic growth and resilience

In their joint statement, the leaders said the Philippines, Japan, and the United States are also partnering to expand cooperation and investments in other areas of the Philippines.

They renewed their commitment to promoting enduring, inclusive economic growth and resilience in their countries and the broader Indo-Pacific.

"We are pursuing economic projects that advance our shared objectives: promoting broad-based and sustainable economic growth, and investing in resilient, reliable, and diversified supply chains," they said.

"Our three nations commit to facilitating the steady implementation of ongoing and future economic cooperation projects toward the Philippines’ attainment of upper-middle-income country status and beyond," they added.

They likewise expressed support for the continued progress of the IPEF to advance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness for their economies and the broader region.

President Marcos welcomed President Biden’s recent Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to the Philippines and the announcement of more than $1 billion in US private sector investments that help promote the Philippines’ innovation economy, clean energy transition, and supply chain resilience.

He likewise thanked Biden for the USA's continued commitment to mobilizing private sector investment in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, President Marcos said he appreciates Japan’s contribution of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and private sector investment in its 2022-2023 fiscal year, which exceeded the pledge of JPY 600 billion made in the 2023 Japan-Philippines Joint Statement.