The US-backed plan to build an AI and supply-chain hub in the Philippines now has a number attached: about $10bn in initial investment, with more to follow, according to the official leading the Philippine side. It also has a striking term on the table, a lease to the United States of up to 99 years.
Joshua Bingcang, president of the state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority, told Bloomberg that Manila aims to sign an initial agreement with the US State Department this year, and that the $10bn would be “just the start” of investment in the 4,000-acre site, which the Philippines hopes to turn into its own version of Silicon Valley.
He said he has been on the phone with US embassy officials almost daily.
The site, near the former US air base at Clark north of Manila, is the first physical facility under Pax Silica, Washington’s alliance to build AI and semiconductor supply chains outside China’s grip. It is meant to host data centres, chip and logistics projects, and green energy, with longer-term ambitions in mineral processing and higher-value semiconductor manufacturing.
A number, a 99-year lease, and a sovereignty problem
