Abstract

The Philippines’ high-tech industry has been a mainstay since the past several years, with several large organizations setting up manufacturing bases to cater to their global markets. Support from the Philippine government in the form of tax holidays and incentives, along with the availability of skilled labor at competitive wage structures, has resulted in the Philippines becoming the desired destination for high-tech manufacturing activities. The increasing contribution of high-tech and semiconductor industries to the national gross domestic product (GDP) reaffirms this industry focus from both a structural reform and an investment point of view.

Despite the opportunity, there are several challenges that the industry is and has been grappling with, such as the transition to a high value-add economy and the skill gaps to drive research and development (R&D) efforts. The initiatives that have been launched in the past two years look at mitigating the skill gaps to a certain extent, but policy structures targeting investments for new-age products should also be a core focus area to ensure that innovation efforts yield tangible and sustained revenues.

Coverage