By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter
THE US views the Philippines as an increasingly critical partner in the semiconductor supply chain, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Visiting an Amkor Technology Philippines plant in Muntinlupa, Mr. Blinken noted the longstanding relationship between the US and the Philippines in semiconductors.
“We have companies that have been here, working here, investing here for many, many years,” he said.
“The Philippines is a thriving partner and a critical partner — indeed, an increasingly critical partner — in the semiconductor supply chain, making sure that we have a strong, resilient supply chain,” he added.
He said that the US continues to look for ways to strengthen the partnership further.
Mr. Blinken’s remarks bring forward the US CHIPS and Science Act’s $52.7-billion program diversify the US semiconductor supply chain amid the risks posed by China and the vulnerability of Taiwan.
“The CHIPS and Science Act has a significant fund that the State Department is responsible for to make further investments in partner countries to build their capacity, particularly, for example, through workforce development,” he said.
“And we’re very pleased to be working with Arizona State University, as well as with an OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) project, to do exactly that,” he added.
Amkor is a partnership of American and Korean companies working in the Philippines, highlighting the potential of the industry going forward as a likely recipient of US investment.
Asked what kind of support the US can give to the Philippine semiconductor industry, Amkor President and Country Manager Norberto Viera cited the potential for broad market access.
“Of course, they can open the market where we will have preferential treatment as far as shipping our products to the US is concerned,” Mr. Viera said.
He added that the US government can help encourage other multinationals to set up operations in the Philippines.
He also said that the Philippines could also benefit from technology transfer from the US as well as upskilling the workforce.
“The Philippines is known to have a lot of young and industrious skilled workers, because we graduate thousands of engineers every year,” he said.
“If that resource is properly trained it will be a big factor for the Philippines to grow … the US can help us in terms of providing good training and skills development for our young engineers,” he added.
Amkor operates in the US, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, China, and Portugal. It offers outsourced semiconductor assembly and test services.
The Philippines accounts for 20% of the global market for assembly, testing, and packaging, according to Mr. Blinken.
