Over 20 Firms Want In on the Luzon Economic Corridor's AI Hub. The Philippines Just Became the First Country in Southeast Asia to Host a Pax Silica Site.
At least 20 firms, including over a dozen US companies and several Middle East-based investors, have expressed interest in the first AI-native industrial acceleration hub under Pax Silica, to be located within a 4,000-acre industrial zone in New Clark City as part of the Luzon Economic Corridor.
New Clark City is becoming the address of one of the most consequential infrastructure investments in Philippine history. And at least 20 firms already want to be part of it.
US Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg visited the proposed Pax Silica site in New Clark City on Monday, joined by Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo and Bases Conversion and Development Authority President and CEO Joshua Bingcang. Together, they unveiled the marker at the site of the first-ever industrial hub to be developed under Pax Silica, the US Department of State's flagship program on artificial intelligence and supply chain security, within a 4,000-acre industrial zone in the Luzon Economic Corridor.
What Pax Silica Is and Why It Matters
Pax Silica is the US Department of State's initiative to build AI-native industrial infrastructure and allied manufacturing capacity in partner countries. The Philippines recently became a signatory to the program, making it the site of the initiative's first industrial hub, a purpose-built platform for AI-enabled manufacturing and supply chain operations designed for allied nations.
The significance of that designation cannot be overstated. Being the first country to host a Pax Silica hub positions the Philippines not just as a recipient of foreign investment but as a strategic node in a US-led effort to build resilient, AI-integrated supply chains outside of adversarial dependencies. The companies expressing interest are not looking at the Philippines as a cheap labor market. They are looking at it as a critical link in a global industrial architecture being built for the long term.
"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," Helberg said.
Who Is Interested and What They Are Looking At
The investment interest is coming from multiple directions. More than a dozen US companies accompanied Helberg on the visit and have expressed interest in joining the Pax Silica initiative. Trade Undersecretary Rodolfo confirmed that five US companies and five Middle East-based firms have separately expressed plans to invest in the Philippines through this corridor.
The interest extends beyond the 4,000-acre hub itself. "Even our existing locators, let's say as far as Calabarzon, have been expressing interest and asking how can they be part of the supply chain for the AI hub," Rodolfo said. That supply chain pull is one of the most important signals from this development: it means the hub's economic impact will not be confined to New Clark City but will ripple outward to existing industrial zones, manufacturers, and service providers across Luzon.
The project also aims to tap the Philippines' substantial reserves of nickel, copper, chromite, and cobalt, minerals that are critical to global supply chains for AI hardware, electric vehicles, and advanced manufacturing. That mineral endowment gives the Philippines a raw material advantage that complements the infrastructure investment being planned at the LEC site.
What Happens Next
Helberg was direct about where the project stands. "Right now, with the signing of the document in Washington and today's trip, we're really entering the first step, which is going to be negotiating a long-term arrangement for the land, as well as determining the build-out and the industries and sectors that will ultimately be prioritized."
The BCDA will approve the concept plan and provide support to manufacturing firms locating in the hub. Bingcang addressed concerns about sovereignty and legal jurisdiction directly: two Philippine laws will govern the arrangement, the Investors' Lease Act and the BCDA law. "It will be treated as a regular business development contract, no special treatment to be accorded to the US," he said.
What This Means for Northern Luzon
New Clark City sits in Capas, Tarlac, placing the Pax Silica hub squarely within Central Luzon and in close geographic proximity to Northern Luzon's growing industrial, agricultural, and digital enterprise base. For the broader Luzon corridor, this development represents a structural upgrade to the investment thesis for the entire region north of Metro Manila.
Supply chain development around an AI-native industrial hub creates demand for logistics infrastructure, technical talent, component manufacturing, and service providers across the corridor. The question for Northern Luzon's ecosystem is not whether this development will generate opportunity in the region. It is whether the region's enterprises, institutions, and talent pipelines are positioned to capture a share of what is being built in New Clark City, starting now.
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