Go: US keen on fast-tracking ‘top priority’ Pax Silica

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ planned Pax Silica hub has gained another boost after newly appointed US Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton committed to help move the project forward as quickly as possible, according to Finance Secretary Frederick Go.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Go, who also serves as the country’s investment czar, said Lipton had expressed strong interest in accelerating the artificial intelligence-focused industrial enclave planned for New Clark City.

READ: 50 firms keen on PH ‘Pax Silica’ hub

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Calling the development “good news,” Go said the project was “generational,” with the potential to strengthen the Philippines’ position in the global technology value chain while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

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“He’s (Lipton) very keen to make things move fast,” Go said during a media roundtable on Friday. “If we’re going to do this, we might as well do it as fast as possible so that we can provide jobs and be a significant player in the technology of the future.”

“On the economic side, the Pax Silica project is on top of the priority list of the American side,” he added.

It has been only three months since the Philippines joined Pax Silica, now a 24-member partnership initiated by Washington to strengthen critical minerals supply chains and expand high-technology manufacturing among member economies.

Even so, the project has advanced rapidly. A 1,619-hectare site in New Clark City has already been identified, while Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn is conducting due diligence as a prospective anchor locator.

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Go said he was hopeful the Philippines and the United States could sign a definitive agreement within the year. That deal would spell out, among others, the terms for the site, including lease rates after the two-year grace period offered by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), which is the property’s “landlord.”

Asked whether Pax Silica locators would require additional incentives, Go said the benefits available under the Create More Law were already sufficient.

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READ: US investment arm keen on Pax Silica, Luzon Economic Corridor

BCDA president and CEO Joshua Bingcang earlier said construction of the project’s first phase is targeted to begin in 2028.

Once it is up and running, Go said the hub could eventually generate “hundreds of thousands” of jobs because of its scale and the type of technology companies it aims to attract.

“If Foxconn does come in, I imagine it would be the single largest (investment),” Go said, adding that he expects the investment to reach billions of dollars.

After all, Go said the “race” to develop Pax Silica has become increasingly competitive as partner countries seek to attract the same high-value technology investments.

“Everybody wants to do this,” he said. “It’s taxes. It’s revenues for the government. It’s jobs for their citizens. It’s ecosystem improvement.”

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“We’ll have an ecosystem for technology — that’s what’s in it for us.” INQ