The United States (U.S) has used the Luzon Economic Corridor Investment Forum in Manila to mobilise private capital for transport, energy, digital infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, while announcing a new $60 million energy programme with the Philippines.
Addressing journalists at a virtual press briefing on Thursday, September 10th, 2026, Ambassador Heather Variava, the Senior Advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs, said the corridor connects Subic, Clark, Manila and Batangas as one integrated economy rather than four separate projects.
“We’re crowding in infrastructure and investment to create an economic corridor that is more than the sum of its parts,” Variava said.
Partners include the United States, the Philippines and Japan, with the European Union and Spain joining other supporting countries at the forum.
Thomas Hardy, the Deputy Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, which sponsored the event, said USTDA had announced new work to expand port facilities at Subic Bay and establish a nationwide network of public Wi-Fi access points. Participants would also visit project sites in Subic, Batangas and Clark.
Dan Petrie, the Acting Chief of Staff of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, said MCC had signed a $60 million Energy Threshold Program hours earlier. The programme aims to lower high electricity costs and improve reliability by modernising the Energy Regulatory Commission, strengthening electric cooperatives, piloting smart-grid technologies and unlocking domestic capital for power infrastructure.
Variava noted that the corridor already covers an area responsible for about half of the Philippines’ GDP. Priority sectors include logistics, energy generation and grids, trusted digital infrastructure and value-added manufacturing. Related efforts include a freight rail study, expanding ship-repair capacity at Subic and reducing regulatory barriers to investment.
U.S. officials said the initiative is intended to continue beyond a single administration, pointing to decades of commercial ties and projects that have remained in place across Philippine and U.S. governments. They described the corridor as a model for public-private partnership aimed at making Luzon more connected, competitive and prosperous.
