Huge US, Japan investments coming

At least 100 billion in investments from the US and Japan may come to the Philippines in five to 10 years as a result of the historic trilateral summit here that aims to deepen the three countries’ economic and defense ties, an envoy said yesterday.

- ALEXIS ROMERO

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said among the sectors that may benefit from the investments are the semiconductor industry, which is part of the Philippines' digital infrastructure, and energy.

"I'm afraid I don't have the exact figure, but I can tell you that the figures I have been hearing... this may sound a little bit expanded in a way, but we're talking about a hundred billion in investments in the next five to 10 years," Romualdez said in a press briefing at the Philippine embassy here.

"Perhaps, even five years will probably be more appropriate because of the fact that we have a lot of areas where we are putting ourselves, our economic managers are putting our country into a situation where we're opening up our economy especially in energy, which is very important for us, and also, of course, digital infrastructure, and physical infrastructure," he added.

Romualdez said the figure is a conservative estimate, noting that the semiconductor industry is an $80 billion business in Southeast Asia. If the Philippines gets 10 or 20 percent of the pie, it would reap $8 billion to $16 billion worth of investments, he added.

"We are one of the seven countries that have been chosen by the United States as a place where we are a trusted ally," Romualdez said.