Highlights from the Seminar on Business Opportunities in the Philippines’ Engineering Sector (Including Emerging Technologies) and New Clark City Development

https://youtu.be/rX6rPJ7dNLc

Seminar on Business Opportunities in the Philippines’ Engineering Sector (Including Emerging Technologies) and New Clark City Development

[Group photo of Director Kristy Hsu and the seminar’s discussants | TASC Media Team]

(From left to right: Henrick Tan, JCV & Associates Project Management and Development Inc. Business Development and Technical Associate; Jason Romeo C. Valderrama, JCV & Associates JCV & Associates Project Management and Development Inc.’s Founder and CEO; Kristy Tsun-Tzu Hsu, Director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research; and Steve Chien, Honorary Chief of the Supervisory Board of the Taiwan Association Inc. in the Philippines. On screen is Erwin Kenneth R. Peralta, Vice President of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority)

The Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER), in cooperation with the Public Construction Commission of the Executive Yuan (R.O.C.), successfully conducted a seminar titled “Business Opportunities in the Philippines’ Overall Infrastructure Engineering Market (Including Emerging Technology Engineering) and New Clark City Development” on September 4, 2026 held both in-person at CIER and virtually.

Opening remarks were delivered by Kristy Tsun-Tzu Hsu (Director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center, CIER) and Anthony Rivera (Director for Commercial Affairs of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC), Taipei). The event was guested by three key personalities from the Philippines, including Mr. Steve Chien (Honorary Chief of Supervisory Board of the Taiwan Association Inc. in the Philippines), Mr. Erwin Kenneth R. Peralta (Vice President, Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Mr. Jason Romeo C. Valderrama (President and CEO, JCV & Associates Project Management and Development, Inc.). This was followed by a panel discussion and consultation with over 130 participants from diverse sectors, including government, academia and industry leaders from electronics, ICT, renewable energy, finance and engineering sectors.

Opening remarks

[Director Anthony Rivera (left) and Director Kristy Tsun-Tzu Hsu (right) | TASC Media Team]

In her opening remarks, Kristy Tsun-Tzu Hsu (Director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center, CIER) stressed the increasing importance of the Philippine market to the Taiwanese policymaking and corporate communities. Having conducted technical site visits across the Philippines early this year, she shared her direct observations of a massive construction era actively unfolding in the country as significant lands are already being secured and developed to host expanding Taiwanese electronics manufacturers.

Anthony Rivera (Director for Commercial Affairs of PTIC Taipei) further expanded on this strategic landscape by detailing the sheer scale of the domestic construction market. The sector contributed over 7% to the Philippine GDP in 2025 and is projected to reach an annual market value of USD 46.3 billion in 2026.

This booming industry is supported by over 4.9 million workers, a steady supply of over 50,000 new engineers graduating annually and a domestic resource pool of 15,000 registered firms. Rivera strongly urged Taiwanese firms to shift away from treating the Philippines as a transactional market for isolated projects but a long-time partner for future joint ventures, technology transfers and collaborative expansion in third-party markets.

Demographic realities

[Presentation provided by Mr. Steve Chien | TASC Media Team]

From his extensive on-the-ground experience, Mr. Steven Chien (Honorary Chief of Supervisory Board of the Taiwan Association Inc. in the Philippines) provided a pragmatic view of the local landscape based on his 30 years of personal business integration in the country since the first Southbound Policy wave in 1995.

The Philippines holds a population exceeding 120 million people, motivated by a birth rate that is generating over 1.3 million births annually which is roughly 12-13 times that of Taiwan. This demographic expansion translates into a massive talent pool of over 500,000 highly-educated and English-proficient university graduates entering the workforce every year which is heavily absorbed by the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. As this driver is now facing severe vulnerability from the rapid artificial intelligence (AI) automation, the Philippines is now highly motivated to establish high-tech manufacturing zones to absorb these graduates.

Taiwanese companies specializing in semiconductor-related packaging and testing in the Philippines are currently based in three particular regions in the country: Region III (Central Luzon), the National Capital Region (Metro Manila) and Region IV-A (CALABARZON). These regions shall provide an opening for interesting companies investing in the country to shortlist their regional options to locate. However, he advised that foreign firms must expect a realistic 5-6 years of market learning curve to navigate local regulations, absorb early operational mistakes and build trusted local relationships before achieving major profitability. Expanding electronics firms in the Philippines are also actively building major new factories but rarely utilize Taiwanese contractors as no local Taiwanese construction firms are actively bidding.

New Clark City and the future of high-tech manufacturing

Erwin Kenneth Peralta (Vice President of the BCDA) detailed the government’s extensive master-planned portfolio. As the planner of the New Clark City, BCDA is utilizing public-private partnerships to build massive transit backbones in transportation, utility infrastructure and logistics.

Currently, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is funding the North-South Commuter Railway scheduled to connect Metro Manila directly to Clark International Airport in the north by June 2028 and reduce transit times to under 50 minutes. Logistical expansions are also in place with the multi-million-dollar cargo contracts with global carriers such as FedEx, UPS and Lufthansa Technik, while several government agencies are also actively relocating its offices to New Clark City to systematically decongest Metro Manila.

A focal point of this emerging city is the Pax Silica and the US-Philippines Economic Security Zone, a 1,620-hectare high-tech industrial park developed in partnership with the US to process critical local minerals and host advanced semiconductor packaging and AI computing infrastructure. As this will demand more energy, BCDA is also executing massive utility projects to achieve a target of 30% renewable energy by 2030 through investments in solar farms, municipal waste-to-energy power plant, rainwater harvesting retention lake and a desalination facility.

Compliance and licensing

[Presentation provided by Engr. Jason Romeo C. Valderrama | TASC Media Team]

Engr. Jason Romeo C. Valderrama (Founder and CEO of JCV & Associates Project Management & Development, Inc.) provided a regulatory roadmap outlining the critical compliance gates and execution pitfalls that Taiwanese entrants must manage. He noted that foreign companies can now secure stable land leases of up to 99 years under the new Investors’ Lease Act. However, companies must also be aware of concerns such as the caps on foreign equity to translate their plans into the local wind, seismic and fire codes.

Learning from his company’s experiences with Taiwanese electronics firms Sunonwealth Electronics Philippines Corp. and Tong Hsing Electronics Industries, Valderrama expressed that these are necessary to prevent decision delays among stakeholders and provide unrealistic home-market budgets that fail to account for local import duties and productivity rates.

Moving forward, the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research will remain true to its mission in facilitating targeted collaborations, assisting Taiwanese enterprises in navigating complex regulatory gateways in the region and driving active participation in Southeast Asia’s rapidly expanding infrastructure and industry transition in the time ahead. For further information about our center's activities and events, please visit the official website of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (link) or our Facebook fan page (link). You are welcome to download the presentation slides.

Presentation Slides

Latest Developments of the Philippines' "Luzon Economic Corridor" and Overall Infrastructure Engineering Market Opportunities (Including Emerging Technology Engineering)

Steve Chien Presentation_04 September 2026.pdf

下載 PDF • 12.77MB

Engaging in Infrastructure Engineering and Emerging Technology Investment Opportunities in the "Luzon Economic Corridor" and New Clark City

BCDA Presentation_04 September 2026.pdf

下載 PDF • 236.10MB

Practical Experience and Key Considerations for Taiwanese Companies Expanding in the Philippine Infrastructure Engineering Market

JCVA Presentation_04 September 2026.pdf

下載 PDF • 4.23MB

Reference material

"New Highlights in US-ASEAN Technology and Critical Minerals Supply Chain Cooperation: The Philippines"

公開版-TASC平台會議 -菲律賓(06-02-2026).pdf

下載 PDF • 2.53MB