Luzon’s 4 major biz hubs linked soon – U.S. exec

A White House official announced on Thursday a significant collaboration between the United States and the Philippines on infrastructure projects linking Luzon’s four key economic hubs.

“We’ll be announcing an important set of new infrastructure projects known as the PGI Luzon corridor, the first-ever (Partnership for Global Infrastructure) corridor in the Indo-Pacific,” the senior official was quoted as saying in a background press call ahead of the bilateral meeting of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., US President Joe Biden, Jand the Trilateral Leaders Summit.

The PGI, he said, will “connect Subic Bay, Clark, Manila, and Batangas in the Philippines to accelerate coordinated investments in high-impact infrastructure projects, including ports, rail, clean energy, semiconductors, supply chains, and other forms of connectivity in the Philippines,”

It will be a strategic collaboration with Japan in Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) technology.

“We will be holding events and setting up a steering committee to accelerate the work on this Luzon corridor, and the Development Finance Corporation will open its first regional office in the Philippines as part of this announcement,” the official said.

The US government is reportedly working closely with the Philippine government to ensure that they can deploy secure, trusted information and communication technologies in the Southeast Asian country as a group.

While the official didn't go into the, he said, "it will take some time for the full suite of investments that we’ve (US) envisioned here to come to pass."

The announcements came ahead of a pivotal meeting between Biden and President Marcos, where discussions will center on initiatives spanning economic cooperation, energy security, maritime collaboration, and infrastructure investment.

“As I mentioned, we’re standing up a steering committee of high-level US, Philippines, and Japanese government officials to ensure that we are steering private sector investment to exactly the types of projects that this corridor needs to improve, as well as bringing a full suite of U.S. government tools to bear,” the official was quoted as saying in a transcript posted on the White House website.

US investors

In the same background press call, another White House official said several US companies are keen on investing in the Philippines, including those that work with undersea lines, logistics, clean energy, and the phone system.

"The US Development Finance Corporation will be setting up an office in the Philippines to help steer this work. And the US Trade and Development Agency has announced several new activities in the Philippines that will help to support it as well," the official said.

Marcos, Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are meeting for the first time at a trilateral summit to talk about a range of issues, including how to strengthen their business ties.

Marcos arrived in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in the Philippines) to join the first meeting of three leaders with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.