Trade & Investments

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian is backing the Philippines’ bid to secure the proposed Pax Silica high-technology manufacturing hub, calling the project a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to draw foreign direct investments, create jobs, and build the country’s next major growth engine after business process outsourcing.

Philippine exporters left an estimated £92 million, or about P7.7 billion, worth of eligible shipments to the United Kingdom without claiming preferential tariff treatment in 2025, highlighting a potentially costly gap in the use of the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS).

Arangkada Philippines is pressing the government to clarify tax rules on cross-border services, warning that uncertainty in implementation could complicate business decisions and undermine the Philippines’ pitch as an investment destination.

Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries is exploring a potential industrial park investment in Clark as the Philippines seeks to strengthen its position as a regional hub for export manufacturing and supply-chain operations.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said the proposed advanced manufacturing park in New Clark City under the Pax Silica initiative will operate within Philippine law and be developed as a purely commercial project, with no defense-related activities.