By Billy Begas

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Friday that the United States and Japan have agreed to provide training for Filipino students to help improve the semiconductor supply chain in the Philippines.

Romualdez lauded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for securing the support of the US and Japan in expanding the local microchip industry and enhancing digital connectivity in the country.

He added that this initiative aims to attract more investments, create additional jobs, and stimulate online and IT-related businesses for Filipinos.

Based on the Joint Vision Statement issued on the heels of the historic trilateral meeting between Marcos, US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida they “intend to pursue a new semiconductor workforce development initiative.”

Under the initiative, “students from the Philippines will receive world-class training at leading American and Japanese universities, to help secure our nations’ semiconductor supply chains.”

“These developments hold immense promise for the Filipino people, as they are poised to significantly impact investments, job creation, business expansion—particularly online and IT-related enterprises— and overall livelihood,” Romualdez said.

The Joint Vision Statement was the realization of last year’s announcement of the US to collaborate with the Philippines to explore opportunities to grow and diversify the global semiconductor ecosystem under the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund, created by the CHIPS Act of 2022.

Among others, Marcos said the US assistance through the ITSI Fund would enable the Philippines to achieve its goal of producing up to 128,000 semiconductor engineers and technicians by 2028 as demanded by the growing industry.