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More than a dozen American companies are looking to invest in New Clark City as part of the Pax Silica, a multi-nation initiative led by the United States to secure supply chains related to artificial intelligence
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US undersecretary for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg said among these firms are those represented during his visit to the proposed Pax Silica site on May 18
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Helberg said the Pax Silica site is envisioned to provide “predictability, reliability, and certainty” in the AI supply chain
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New Clark City in Tarlac is part of the broader Luzon Economic Corridor, a joint program started by the US, Japan and the Philippines, and recently joined by several other nations
More than a dozen American companies are looking to invest in New Clark City as part of the Pax Silica, a multi-nation initiative led by the United States to secure supply chains related to artificial intelligence (AI).
“Every single company who’s here is interested in potentially being a part of this historic effort. We have over a dozen companies that are here with us, several of them are over a billion-dollar companies,” said Jacob Helberg, undersecretary for Economic Affairs of the United States Department of State, during a visit to New Clark City on May 18 for an ocular inspection of the proposed 4,000-acre Pax Silica site.
Helberg led a high-level delegation that also included representatives from the World Bank, and some of America’s most prominent technology and infrastructure companies, according to a statement from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), which manages the New Clark City.
The visit culminated in the unveiling of a ceremonial marker for the proposed site, jointly led by Helberg, Philippine Department of Trade and Industry undersecretary and Board of Investments managing head Ceferino Rodolfo, and BCDA president and CEO Joshua Bingcang.
“In January, I said the State Department would treat economic security as a product to be built, not a policy to be announced. Today, on this piece of ground, we are here to see the first such product come into being — a partnership of a kind that has not been tried before, between the United States and its oldest ally in Asia, the Philippines,” Helberg said in his speech during the ceremony.
New Clark City in Tarlac is part of the broader Luzon Economic Corridor, a joint program started by the US, Japan and the Philippines, and recently joined by seven other nations.
Helberg said the Pax Silica site is envisioned to provide “predictability, reliability, and certainty” in the AI supply chain, which is currently “unacceptably overconcentrated.”
“When people hear the words AI supply chain, they think of computer chips. But the chips are only the tip of a very long tail. The chain runs on thousands of inputs. It runs on the precision motors, rare-earth magnets, packaging and testing that turns a slice of silicon into something a buyer can plug in, moldings, plastics, and so much more,” he said.
Bingcang, for his part, highlighted the real-world impact of the project saying, “Every rail line, energy project, and investment in this corridor means quality jobs for Filipinos in Central Luzon and beyond.”
READ: Luzon Economic Corridor investor forum planned to draw global capital
