Electronics exports goal of $110B on track, DTI says, but industry more cautious

PHILIPPINE electronic exports remain on track to hit $110 billion by 2030 even with trade recently disrupted by the fighting in the Middle East, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

“We’re hoping that once the conflict is resolved, this target will carry over,” Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque told reporters on the sidelines of the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday.

The Philippine Semiconductor and Electronics Industry (PSEI) Roadmap set the industry target at $70 billion for semiconductor exports and $40 billion for electronics by 2030.

This will be achieved by a five-year plan to train 128,000 semiconductor professionals to meet industry demand.

The roadmap was formalized during the 4^th Meeting of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Advisory Council (SEIAC) on March 23 at Malacañang Palace.

“Semiconductors are our number one export, and we want to keep growing that,” Ms. Roque said in a separate statement.

“The PSEI Roadmap gives us the framework to move up the value chain, from packaging into IC (integrated circuit) design and, eventually, wafer fabrication,” she said.

The roadmap details strategic interventions to help the industry move up from the assembly, test, and packaging (ATP) to advanced packaging, integrated circuit design, and front-end manufacturing.

It also proposes the creation of up to three national laboratories, each with an area of specialization, a dedicated fabrication capability, a research and development roadmap, and a talent development framework.

“We are poised to reach $50 billion this year. But given the global challenges, I would hesitate to project $110 billion by 2030,” Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI) President Danilo C. Lachica said via Viber.

For 2026, SEIPI projects semiconductor and electronics (S&E) exports to grow 5% this year. According to SEIPI, electronics exports rose 16.11% to $49.64 billion in 2025.

Mr. Lachica cited the war in the Middle East and the US reciprocal tariffs as challenges to export growth.

US President Donald J. Trump in February announced that he will be imposing a new 15% duty on imports, after the US Supreme Court ruled that he had exceeded his authority in imposing reciprocal tariffs.

Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go has said that a majority of the country’s exports — including semiconductors and key agricultural commodities — had been before the US Supreme Court issued its ruling.

John Paolo R. Rivera, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said the ongoing conflict could raise energy and logistics costs for the semiconductor and electronics industry.

“Geopolitical tensions, including the Middle East conflict, pose indirect risks through higher energy and logistics costs, weaker global demand, and investment uncertainty,” he said via Viber.

“Still, the industry can remain resilient if it positions itself as a reliable player in supply chain diversification and upgrades its domestic capabilities,” Mr. Rivera added.

The Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) chairmanship could help leverage the country’s profile as an emerging semiconductor hub, the DTI said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that exports of electronic products grew 17% to $46 billion in 2025, while semiconductor exports rose 18.7% to $34.62 billion. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz