ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Trade & Industry devider Philippines eyes global capital with first Luzon Corridor investor forum

Philippines eyes global capital with first Luzon Corridor investor forum

Published Apr 27, 2026 07:39 am
Finance Secretary Frederick Go, with Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, speaks with US Ambassador Heather Variava during a meeting at the Philippine Embassy in Washington on April 14, 2026. The officials met to finalize the 2026 agenda for the Luzon Economic Corridor, a trilateral infrastructure initiative between the Philippines, the US, and Japan aimed at boosting investment in rail, energy, and supply chains.
Finance Secretary Frederick Go, with Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, speaks with US Ambassador Heather Variava during a meeting at the Philippine Embassy in Washington on April 14, 2026. The officials met to finalize the 2026 agenda for the Luzon Economic Corridor, a trilateral infrastructure initiative between the Philippines, the US, and Japan aimed at boosting investment in rail, energy, and supply chains.
The Philippines and the United States (US) have moved to accelerate the 2026 development agenda for the Luzon Economic Corridor, signaling a deepening of trilateral ties to transform Manila’s industrial heartland into a premier investment destination.
Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go met with US Ambassador Heather Variava at the Philippine Embassy in Washington on April 14 to harmonize logistics for the corridor’s next phase. The meeting serves as a precursor to a steering committee meeting in Manila this May, followed by a investors’ forum slated for the second half of the year.
Go, who leads the Philippine contingent for the steering committee, cited Variava’s recent appointment as advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs as a tangible marker of Washington’s long-term interest.
Variava’s deep history with the Philippine economic landscape, having previously served as the US Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires in Manila, provides a layer of institutional continuity as the project enters a critical implementation window.
The upcoming Manila summit in May will bring together senior delegations from the Philippines, the US, and Japan. This trilateral partnership, first forged in 2024, is designed to modernize the economic artery connecting Subic Bay, Clark, Manila, and Batangas.
Beyond the boardroom, the visiting delegations are scheduled to conduct site inspections of priority project areas to assess the readiness of infrastructure, energy, and logistics hubs.
Central to the 2026 strategy is the inaugural Investors Forum. Manila intends for the event to serve as a flagship platform to pitch a pipeline of bankable projects to global fund managers. By highlighting opportunities in semiconductor supply chains, clean energy, and port modernization, the government aims to shore up investor confidence and secure the billions of pesos required for the corridor’s long-term viability.
The initiative has already begun to see financial backing. In 2025, the US Trade and Development Agency provided a technical assistance grant valued at approximately ₱215.3 million for the Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas Railway, which officials describe as the corridor's anchor project.
Furthermore, a ₱850 million allocation from the US Department of State was announced to catalyze private sector participation.
The Luzon Economic Corridor represents the first project of its kind under the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment in the Indo-Pacific. By focusing on high-impact sectors like agribusiness and civilian port upgrades, the three nations are betting that regional connectivity will drive job creation and stabilize supply chains in one of the world's most contested economic theaters.
Go noted that the corridor continues to gain traction, bolstered by private sector interest that views the integrated rail and port system as a necessary evolution for Philippine trade.

Related Tags

Department of Finance (DOF) Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go US Embassy
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.