As the country aggressively promotes investment opportunities to the international market, the Philippines through Trade and Industry Secretary Fred Pascual participated on September 2 in the session on Global Supply Chain and Sustainable Investment organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). During the forum, Secretary Pascual and his fellow panelists discussed the possible effects of “deglobalization” particularly its impact on trade and investments as well as the need to diversify production locations and find alternative materials to ensure supply chain resilience.
The Trade Chief cited the growing interest in critical minerals due to the global transition to clean energy. He further stressed that this trend offers great potential for the Philippines given the vast mineral resources present in the country, such as copper and nickel ores. Secretary Pascual also emphasized that the Philippines is now going in the direction of manufacturing electric vehicles, from downstream processing of nickel ores to finished products. This will also complement the country’s comparative advantage in semiconductor and manpower skills, specifically the abundance of the young, dynamic, and tech-savvy Filipino workforce.