BoI, Pax Silica, trusted partnerships in the AI era

The Philippines is not starting from zero. It already has the industry, the talent, the roadmap, and, most importantly, the partnerships on which to build.

According to Board of Investments (BoI) managing head and Trade Undersecretary for the Industry Development and Investment Promotions Group Ceferino Rodolfo, the story of Philippine industrialization cannot be told without the semiconductor and electronics industry.

He said for more than five decades, the industry has quietly and consistently demonstrated that the Philippines can compete globally in one of the world’s most sophisticated, technology-intensive, and innovation-driven sectors.

“That success was built through persistence, investments, engineering excellence, global partnerships, and, most especially, the unwavering belief that Filipino talent belongs in the world’s most advanced industries,” he said.

“The BoI has been part of that journey. For many years, BoI and the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. (SEIPI), have worked closely with other government agencies, academic institutions, and private-sector partners to attract investments, strengthen industry capabilities, and align policy with the sector’s changing needs,” he stressed.

A proven Philippine strength

He said to date, semiconductors and electronics remain the country’s largest export industry. More importantly, they continue to be a principal driver of Philippine export performance.

Despite pronounced global headwinds, from wars to tariffs, Philippine exports have shown strong growth.

Merchandise exports reached a record $84.4 billion in 2025, with electronics accounting for more than half of the total.

In June 2026, exports reached $8.8 billion, then the highest monthly level recorded since the country began collecting comparable trade data.

Electronics accounted for about 60 percent of that total, fueled in part by escalating demand for artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and the Internet of Things.

“Every smartphone, vehicle, communications network, advanced medical device and more and more, every artificial intelligence (AI) system depends on semiconductors. The chips assembled, tested, packaged, and increasingly designed by Filipino engineers help power the global economy. That is something every Filipino should be proud of,” Rodolfo said, noting, that greatest opportunity still lies ahead.

A new technology era

Rodolfo said the country is now living through one of the most significant technological transformations of the generation.

He said artificial intelligence is changing how businesses operate, how governments deliver services, how products are designed, and how economies grow, in which, at the center of it all, is one industry: the semiconductor industry.

Rodolfo stressed that every AI model, server, accelerator, data center, autonomous system, and intelligent manufacturing platform depends on semiconductors. Further, the AI revolution is fundamentally a semiconductor revolution.

“At the same time, global supply chains are being reorganized. The world is no longer optimizing solely for efficiency. It is increasingly optimizing for resilience, security, trust, reliability, and strategic partnerships. Countries today compete not only on cost, but also on their ability to become trusted partners,” he said, adding that increasingly, the Philippines is being viewed through that lens, creating opportunities that may not come again for another generation.

Phl not starting from zero

On the recent discussion about Pax Silica, Rodolfo stressed two points that are important in understanding what the US-led initiative means for the Philippines.

“First, the Philippines did not start thinking about semiconductors, integrated circuit design, advanced manufacturing, critical minerals, connectivity, renewable energy, data centers, or AI because of Pax Silica. Far from it. Long before Pax Silica, the Philippines was already working on many of the building blocks of a future technology economy,” he said.

For BoI and SEIPI, Rodolfo said the work is rooted in a partnership built over many years.

Many industry stakeholders worked closely with government under the Product and Technology Holistic Strategy, or PATHS. More recently, BoI, SEIPI, and industry partners developed the updated Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Roadmap, with work beginning in late 2024.