European Chamber Urges Tighter Government–Industry Coordination to Win AI and Chip Investment
The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) has called for closer coordination between government and industry to attract investment in artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors and green technology, as global companies reassess supply chains and investment destinations, the Daily Tribune reported. The call came at a dialogue on frontier innovations and economic security held on 15 October at Ascott Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, with officials from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Board of Investments (BoI).
Participants worked through the 2026 Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) and the Global Tech Corridors, covering advanced manufacturing, critical-mineral processing and AI computing infrastructure, along with fiscal incentives for priority activities. DTI Assistant Secretary Kenneth T. Yap said the government aims to lift the country’s share of global semiconductor production to 7 percent, raise ICT design exports to $3 billion and train up to 128,000 semiconductor professionals by 2030. BoI director Sandra Marie S. Recolizado said the updated SIPP is meant to move the economy toward higher-value manufacturing.
The discussion also mapped how Philippine priorities could align with international frameworks: Pax Silica, the Luzon Economic Corridor and the European Union’s Global Gateway programme, which together span technology supply chains, transport and energy infrastructure, and green investment.
What it means in practice
Industry speakers kept returning to the basics. Teymour Benet, who heads Southeast Asia data-centre development at ACCIONA, said energy and infrastructure have to move together if the country wants digital infrastructure investment. ING’s Nic Chua said banks are ready to finance projects given clear plans and timelines, and SGV’s Alden C. Labaguis noted that firms can look at incentives beyond existing tax breaks.
Those conditions shape the government’s headline plans, including DICT’s $34.4 billion AI+ infrastructure masterplan, the energy plan behind a 1.5 GW AI compute push and hardware ambitions such as DTI’s Bulacan ecozone pitch for assembling AI server racks. Without reliable power and predictable rules, investors at the dialogue suggested, those targets stay on paper.
What to watch: which AI computing activities win priority status under the updated SIPP, whether European investors anchor projects through Global Gateway, and progress toward the 2030 semiconductor talent target.