With the ongoing study of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States will soon be developing specific funding allocations for the "Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors" or CHIPS Act for the Philippines, according to visiting Assistant Secretary Ramin Toloui of the US Department of State.
The United States has designated the Philippines as one of its partner nations under the CHIPS and Science Act.
The United States government has set aside USD 500 million for the International Technology, Security, and Innovation (ITSI) Fund, which will be used in the partner nations over the course of the next five years.
Major semiconductor market
According to Toloui, the US government views the Philippines as a major semiconductor market.
By bolstering the semiconductor industry in the partner countries and creating an environment that encourages US companies to invest there, the CHIPS Act seeks to diversify the US semiconductor supply chain.
“Before the study is made public, we will be able to use the results of the interim report to actually make some funding decisions, and those should be available in the next couple of months,” Toloui said.
“The purpose of the fund is to try to target a select set of priority areas that are important to catalyzing larger volumes of private sector investment in this sector,” he said.
Tapping on potentialities
“The Philippines has been a significant player in the assembly, testing, and packaging component in the downstream manufacturing component of the semiconductor supply chain, with semiconductors demand poised to continue to grow,” Toloui said..
Meanwhile, Marcos stated that 128,000 or more semiconductor engineers and technicians are anticipated to be produced in the Philippines in the next several years to meet the demand for technology.
“So, with the potential support from the United States under the CHIPS Act, we are poised to churn out a robust talent pool of 128,000 semiconductor engineers and technicians by the year 2028, ready to meet the expanding needs of high-technology industries,” Marcos said during the courtesy call of the US government and Presidential Trade and Investment Mission (PTIM) delegation.
