A senior U.S. official said the United States and the Philippines are on track to conclude an agreement on the long-term framework for a designated economic security zone "sooner rather than later." The comment came as Washington advances its Pax Silica initiative, a program intended to protect the full technology supply chain.
Jacob Helberg, the U.S. undersecretary of state for economic affairs, told Reuters in an interview that the two governments will use a two-year window to work out the arrangements under the pact they signed last month. He said the agreement will include a process to set sectoral industrial priorities, determining which kinds of economic activity will be encouraged within the zone.
"I expect the United States and the Philippines to reach a deal sooner rather than later," Helberg said, adding, "There’s an enormous amount of momentum behind this."
Last month’s pact also brought the Philippines into Pax Silica as its 13th member. Helberg said the alliance, which seeks to secure areas ranging from critical minerals and advanced manufacturing to computing and data infrastructure, has expanded quickly. From seven founding members last September, the group had grown to 15 members at the time of the interview. Helberg added that Pax Silica will "most likely be at 16 by the end of next month, because we’re probably going to add one or two members over the next four weeks."
While U.S. officials press ahead with the framework, the Philippines has not accepted a U.S. request for diplomatic immunity for the zone, the head of the Philippines’ development authority told Bloomberg on Monday. That position leaves specific legal arrangements unresolved as talks continue.
Helberg visited a proposed 4,000-acre (1,620-hectare) site in New Clark City, north of Manila, on Monday. He was accompanied by representatives from more than a dozen U.S. companies, including 8VC, Agility Robotics, Joby Aviation and Valar Atomics. A photograph posted on X showed Young Liu, chairman of Foxconn, among the delegation.
Helberg described the level of commercial interest as high even at this early stage, noting interest both from the companies present at the site visit and from other U.S. firms. He made the comments while speaking at the ATX summit in Singapore, where he also met digital ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the 11-member regional grouping.
At the summit, Helberg said he discussed opportunities related to minerals and logistics with Singaporean officials and "a number of others." Beyond the site visit and diplomatic engagements, the timeline and the sectoral focus for the economic security zone remain matters for the two governments to finalize within the agreed two-year window.