Europe-PH News

MANILA, Philippines — The expanded partnership for the development of the Luzon Economic Corridor is expected to boost investments, job creation and the country’s resilience to external shocks.

Finance Secretary Frederick Go, who also serves as co-chair of the LEC Steering Committee, told reporters that job creation is the key to achieving sustained economic growth and strengthening resilience.

“The external shocks today are not extraordinary. They’re not special. Shocks will happen and will keep happening. What we have to do is take care of our own economy, take care of our own institutions,” Go said.

“We have to build strong institutions, we have to build strong infrastructure and provide jobs for our people. That’s the key,” he added.

According to Go, the expanded partnership for the LEC’s development shows the strong investor interest in the Philippines.

If realized, investments in the LEC would help create jobs.

When the LEC was launched in 2024, the partnership covered only the Philippines, United States and Japan.

Earlier this week, seven other countries – Australia, Denmark, France, Italy, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom – joined the partnership.

These new partners will support the development of the LEC by providing technical assistance and financing, as well as facilitating private sector investments, particularly on transport, energy and digital infrastructure.

The partnership for the LEC aims to enhance connectivity among Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas, while advancing infrastructure investments and creating high-quality jobs.

“We started this trilateral relationship with three countries. Now, we have seven plus three, so we have 10 countries now. It shows you the level of interest of foreign direct investors in the Philippines today,” Go said.

By attracting more investments into the country, he said the goal is to create more jobs for Filipinos.

“With jobs, people have money, they can spend, and you go into that cycle of earning, spending, earning, spending, earning, spending. That’s how you build resilience against external shocks,” he said.

For Asian Development Bank country director for the Philippines Andrew Jeffries, the development of the LEC is important, given that 60 percent of the country’s economic activity is within that corridor.

“Because it’s such a large part of the whole Philippine GDP (gross domestic product), it’s a very important corridor to keep developing,” he said.

He also said there is a need to develop infrastructure along that corridor.