The Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) is already generating a great deal of interest among leading Philippine businesses, both big and small. They know that foreign direct investments (FDIs) coming from at least nine major developed countries will impact the regions of CALABARZON, the National Capital Region (NCR), and Central Luzon, which collectively account for some 60 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product (GDP).

In brief, as I have already explained in a series of articles that appeared in a Philippine daily, the LEC is an initiative of the United States (US) and Japanese governments (later joined by seven other developed nations from Europe and the Asia-Pacific). The project will richly endow the corridor—spanning from Batangas to Metro Manila, Bataan, and Zambales—with strategic infrastructure like railways, airports, tollways, power plants, telecom facilities, and internet connections. This will enable the Philippines to attract a good number of high-value electronic components and semiconductor device manufacturers away from China, reducing the over-reliance of these companies on Chinese factories for highly strategic products that feed the defense industries and digital sectors of these top industrial nations.

The LEC was formally launched in 2024 through a cooperation agreement between the governments of the Philippines, the United States, and Japan during a trilateral summit led by Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Joe Biden, and Fumio Kishida. The project is intended to accelerate growth while improving supply-chain resilience and strategic infrastructure in the region.

The corridor links several key economic hubs in Luzon, including Subic, Clark, Metro Manila, and Batangas City. These areas form a north-south trade and transport spine across Central Luzon. The corridor aims to upgrade railways, ports, roads, airports, and energy systems; attract manufacturing and high-tech investments; improve semiconductor and clean energy supply chains; expand digital infrastructure and telecommunications; create jobs and stimulate regional development; and reduce logistics costs and congestion around the National Capital Region. The projects envisioned in this long-term infrastructure plan will impact the Philippine administrations that will be in place from 2028 until 2034 and beyond.

Especially considering the shameful behavior of national leaders during the flood control corruption scandal and the subsequent circus in the Senate, those of us in business, civil society, and academe who are doing our best to promote the common good prefer to work closely with local government officials. These leaders have a vested interest in the success of the LEC, particularly those in the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Corridor.

For this reason, last June 3, I joined the officers of the CRC Institute for Local Development in a one-day conference held in Clark for the heads of 14 LGUs. The goal was to discuss ways to dismantle bureaucratic hurdles and streamline business permits to capture the expected massive influx of FDIs under the newly expanded LEC. In addition to the US and Japan, eight other countries have pledged to promote investments in the LEC from their respective nations: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

During this conference, Paul Taylor, Senior Commercial Officer of the US Embassy in Manila, reported that investments are already starting to pour in. He cited major American logistics giants like UPS and FedEx, which have already expanded operations in the LEC in anticipation of rapid growth. He stressed the need for the concerned LGUs to reduce "friction" by creating a more investor-friendly environment.

The business community, represented by Chris Edwards of the American Chamber of Commerce, echoed this sentiment. He underscored the importance of a simplified LGU permitting process with clear timetables and transparent, trackable processes that reduce manual intervention to build investor confidence. We should benchmark our efforts against investor-friendly countries like Singapore and Vietnam (in 2025, Vietnam attracted close to $30 billion worth of FDIs).

A key focus of the forum was digital transformation. Lea Grace Salcedo, Deputy Director General of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), presented national initiatives like the Electronic Business One-Stop-Shop (e-BOSS) system and TALA, a 24/7 AI-assisted public complaints handling system. She urged LGUs to continuously re-engineer their processes by "dismantling redundant procedures."

The power of digital transformation in improving efficiency was further highlighted by Marge Mejia, President of the National Business Permitting and Licensing Officers of the Philippines and head of Quezon City’s BPLO. She shared the impressive results achieved when Quezon City transitioned to a 100 percent online business permitting system, which resulted in a 350 percent increase in private capital investments, a 25 percent growth in new business registrations, and a 15 percent expansion in local business tax collections, with transaction times as fast as three minutes to renew a business permit. Meanwhile, Abul Khayr Alonto II of the Bataan Provincial Government showcased Bataan’s transformation into a leading investment destination through comprehensive ease-of-doing-business reforms, including a one-stop center that serves both OFWs and investors.

The forum was a joint venture between the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development (SCAD)—an agency under the Office of the President tasked to coordinate developments in the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Corridor—and the Center for Research and Communication (CRC), a think tank that supports local governance reform through its Institute for Local Development.

The event was capped by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SCAD and CRC to collaborate on strengthening LGU capacity in key areas, including ease of doing business, digital transformation, water security, and investment planning. These efforts are aimed at preparing LGUs for the influx of investors and projects in the LEC, thereby accelerating economic development across Luzon and the entire Philippines.

A concrete example of a domestic corporation that will greatly benefit from the Luzon Economic Corridor is the Science Park of the Philippines, Inc. (SPPI), the country’s pioneer private industrial park developer with nearly 1,500 hectares of industrial estates. Although SPPI has a presence in Mindanao and the Visayas, some of its biggest projects are located in CALABARZON and Central Luzon. These developments include Light Industry & Science Park I in Cabuyao, Laguna; Light Industry & Science Park II in Calamba, Laguna; Light Industry & Science Park III in Sto. Tomas, Batangas; Light Industry & Science Park IV in Malvar, Batangas; Hermosa Ecozone Industrial Park in Hermosa, Bataan; and its newest project, the New Clark City Industrial Park in New Clark City, Tarlac, which is highly relevant to the LEC.

Factories looking to migrate from China and elsewhere to the LEC will find quick-and-ready sites in any of these industrial estates. An added attraction is the full integration of these industrial parks with residential communities built by SPPI's sister company, Pueblo de Oro Development Corp.