Top US economic affairs exec to visit Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — US Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg will be traveling to the Philippines this week, the US Department of State announced yesterday.

The visit, which is scheduled today until Thursday, is expected to focus on economic development and initiatives for the Pax Silica partnership.

The partnership is a US-led multilateral initiative launched to secure and build resilient supply chains for artificial intelligence, advanced computing, semiconductors and critical minerals.

Helberg is set to engage with government officials, private sector representatives and other ASEAN member-states.

The US Department of State said the visit to Manila will build on momentum from last month’s Pax Silica Declaration signing ceremony when the Philippines joined the Pax Silica partnership of nations as the 13th signatory of the group that includes Australia, Finland, India, Israel, Japan, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the US.

Helberg will advance the initiative’s efforts on the ground and visit the planned Economic Security Zone in the Philippines, which was announced during the Declaration signing.

The US Department of State said the zone is intended to be a first-of-its-kind 4,000-acre industrial hub designed to surge production of inputs vital to global supply chains and to provide a significant contribution to advancing the vision of the Luzon Economic Corridor.