U.S. and Philippines Plan the Launch of Historic 4,000 Acre Economic Security Zone to Shore Up Supply Chains

US State Department ^ | 04/16/2026 | Office of the Spokesperson

[DFG]

Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg today announced the United States’ and the Philippines’ plans to establish a 4,000-acre industrial hub to secure inputs vital to American and global supply chains. The site is located in the Luzon Economic Corridor of the Philippines. The site—the first of its kind—is being designated by the Philippines as an Economic Security Zone, a new model for AI-native investment acceleration hubs being developed under the Pax Silica Initiative.

The Economic Security Zone is part of a broader strategy to surge production for inputs vital to U.S. supply chains. It is expected to serve as a purpose-built platform for allied manufacturing—an investment acceleration hub where the specific industrial activities are shaped by market demand, host-country comparative advantages, and the evolving needs of the allied network. Situated within the Luzon Economic Corridor, the Zone can leverage the Philippines’ geographic centrality in the Indo-Pacific, its young and technically skilled workforce, and its deepening alliance with the United States.

Structure and Planned Governance

Joint governance: The two governments intend to identify appropriate frameworks for the long-term development of the Zone that facilitate sovereign alignment and shared upside as it scales.

Enhanced Operational Certainty: The Economic Security Zone is intended to fuse American expertise in institutions and legal regimes – internationally enforceable contracts, transparent regulatory standards, and expert dispute resolution – with enhanced access to the Philippines’ outstanding workforce and talent, mineral endowments, energy resources, and strategic position at the crossroads of Indo-Pacific trade.

The Philippines and Pax Silica

Critical minerals: The Philippines holds significant reserves of nickel, copper, chromite, and cobalt—minerals increasingly vital to global supply chains.

Infrastructure: The Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) is a coordinated, high-impact investment in key sectors, including in transportation, energy, digital infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. The LEC will transform Luzon into a more prosperous and interconnected region while delivering value to American investors.

The Economic Security Zone

First of many: The Luzon hub is intended to be the first Zone in a broader industrial network—a constellation of integrated manufacturing sites, logistics corridors, and shared financial instruments spanning partner nations across multiple continents.

System transformation: This interconnection can transform Pax Silica industrial policy from a collection of bilateral projects into a genuine system capable of competing with—and ultimately displacing—the concentrated supply chains on which the world currently depends.

---

TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: economicsecurityzone; luzon; paxsilica; philippines

[nevadapatriot]

Doesn’t say exactly where, I’m thinking probably Angeles City/Clark area

[Tell It Right]

[Tell It Right]

[Theoria]

Too much to ask to have those jobs here apparently. I get the cheaper labor, low regulations and the rest. But, they don’t have much energy there.

[buckalfa]

"Too much to ask to have those jobs here apparently."

Yeah the MAGA promise of reshoring our supply chain through the reindustrialization of America seems to have taken a back seat to the shiny new toys of AI and the world stage. The Trump Administration has created vast balance sheet wealth in the stock markets.Jobs and wages for main street not so much. Still the prospect of a Harris economy is unthinkable.

[FrankRizzo890]

I could be wrong, but I assume these are jobs mining the minerals that are present on Luzon. It’s hard to mine the Philippines from the US.

[BeauBo]

Countering China in many ways - South China Sea, Taiwan invasion scenario, supply chain diversification, regional influence, etc..
..

[Texan5]

“The Philippines holds significant reserves of nickel, copper, chromite, and cobalt”. The source of the products-and the jobs to mine them are not located in the USA-if you want a job associated with that production, you need to go to the Philippines to work...