Gov’t seeks high-value e-investments amid soaring exports
The Marcos administration has intensified its pursuit to attract more investments in the electronics and semiconductor industry amid the surge in the sector’s exports, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto on Sunday.
Recto, chair of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Advisory Council (SEIAC), stressed that the electronics and semiconductor is driving merchandise exports up to historic levels, vaulting to an all-time high of $64 billion in the first eight months of 2026 and firming up the country’s position in the global technology supply chain.
“Investors are seeing us as an investment choice not only for manufacturing and assembly but also for chip design, engineering, research and innovation. And as demand for AI, semiconductors, and data centers grows, so do the opportunities for our workers, engineers and businesses,” he added.
In its latest report, the Philippine Statistics Authority said that single-month merchandise exports soared to a 35-year high of $ 9.1 billion in August 2026 alone, a 27.8 percent year-on-year expansion.
Lions’ share
Electronic products account for the lion’s share of the growth, generating $6.2 billion or 68 percent of the country’s total exports in August alone.
From January to August, electronics grew by 26.2 percent, reaching $37.1 billion in value.
The United States still holds dominance as an export destination, ordering $ 12.3 billion worth, or almost a fifth of the country’s total exports for the period.
The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. (SEIPI) has earlier raised its 2026 electronics export growth forecast to 10 percent or approximately $54 billion amid rising global demand for AI and data-center infrastructure.
SEIPI credited the Marcos administration’s CREATE MORE Act for strengthening the country’s investment incentives framework, particularly provisions which aid registered export enterprises.
One proof of this is Toshiba’s planned multi-billion-peso expansion of its Philippine operations over the next three years, to ramp up production of high-capacity hard disk drives in high demand by data centers, which in turn creates about 3,000 new jobs.
To sustain the momentum, SEIAC recently launched the Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Roadmap, targeting $110 billion in annual exports by 2030.
By that year, the government would have increased the Philippines’ share of global semiconductor assembly, test, and packaging to seven percent and captured four percent of global electronics manufacturing services.
Building an integrated circuit design sector would generate an additional $2 to 3 billion in annual export receipts.
Complementing these efforts is the Luzon Economic Corridor, principally a Subic-Clark-Metro Manila-Batangas link in which transport, logistics, energy, digital infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing therein will be the focus of state and private investment.
The LEC aims to create up to one million jobs. A 1,600-hectare technology and advanced manufacturing hub in New Clark City alone is forecast to generate 130,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, the Board of Investments is advancing a broader Philippine Technology Corridor, linking strategic industry hubs across the country.
This covers advanced manufacturing in New Clark City; IC design in Metro Manila; critical minerals in Mindanao; AI infrastructure in Batangas; connectivity in Aurora, and prospective wafer fabrication in Bulacan.