Messages of the Chairman and the President

Message from the Chairman

Our industry’s success in the challenging year 2021 can be seen in our numbers:  12.9% growth and $45.9 B in sales making 61.5% of the total commodity exports of the Philippines. This remarkable growth shows our resilience, determination, adaptability, and competitiveness at the leading edge of technology.  It’s an exciting time to be part of our great industry!

Our firms design and produce complex integrated circuits, components, and a broad array of advanced electronic modules that successfully compete in world markets.  Most of the world’s automobiles, aircraft, smartphones, computers, IoT, and electronic medical devices have components proudly made in the Philippines to the highest quality standards.

SEIPI strongly represents the interests of this great industry and leads the way to create a business environment that supports success, ease of doing business, environmental sustainability, and development of people, and enables healthy development of our communities.

Our members not only include companies that design and manufacture semiconductors and electronics, but also all manner of related organizations such as universities colleges, utilities, suppliers, and more.  Together, these partners work to develop the supply of talented young entrants to our industry and build localized supply chains.  The critical mass creates supporting economies of scale that benefit the entire industry.

Whether you are an inspired individual or a related company, I encourage you to join us in our mission.  Together, our industry will achieve many new successes!

Message from the President

For the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry, Recovery and Resilience were the themes of 2021. While 2020 closed at US$ 40.67 billion in electronics exports, 2021 proved to be a better year as the industry grew by 12.9% to reach an all-time high of US$ 45.92 billion, even exceeding the 2019 pre-pandemic level of $43.3 billion by 6%. The industry remains as the top exporter in the Philippines, accounting for 61.52% of the country’s total commodity exports.

This stellar performance was not without challenges for the industry, primarily brought about by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, Super Typhoon Odette bashed the Philippines in December 2021. Thankfully, our industry has again demonstrated its indomitable spirit and willingness to help each other literally weather the storm as our member-companies generously contributed cash donations reaching over PhP 2.8 million, a portion of which was used to purchase drinking water for the deprived members in Cebu. SEIPI donated cash to PEZA for the purchase of construction materials for damaged structures in Cebu, and to member-universities in Leyte and Mindanao affected by the typhoon. The bulk of the donations were turned over to relief organizations, including the Philippine Red Cross, the Tanging Yaman Foundation, and the ABS-CBN Foundation. We are truly grateful for the generosity of our members.

SEIPI continues to help members in ensuring the health and safety of our industry workforce during the global health crisis. We consolidated the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccine orders of our member-companies acquired through Go Negosyo and ICTSI Foundation, respectively. We likewise doubled our orders for the AstraZeneca vaccines to donate to the government. This year, SEIPI formed a new collaboration with Go Negosyo that involves acquisition of AstraZeneca boosters for member-companies.

Throughout the year, SEIPI addressed innumerable advocacies, such as the entry of foreign nationals into the Philippines and the safety of our over 3 million direct and indirect workers amidst the pandemic, the DENR Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2016-08, the Bureau of Customs (BOC)-related concerns, the BIR Revenue Regulation (RR) No. 9-2021, among others. The developments and resolution of several policy concerns have provided us with a measure of relief, most especially during these difficult times, and we are most thankful for the invaluable support and assistance that we received from our government partners, including IATF, DTI, PEZA, and ARTA.

Technical working groups were formed to work on Industry 4.0 TWG, Wire Harness Cluster, IC Design Sector, and Parts Localization initiatives. Our Networking Committees, VisMin (Visayas and Mindanao) and North Luzon chapters address industry projects, work on local concerns, strengthen industry-academe linkages, and organize webinars for workforce development. SEIPI and our international partners are likewise planning more projects after implementing successful initiatives last year. We will continue accomplishing our industry roadmap by working towards the establishment of the IC Design Training Lab and Microelectronics Wafer Fab Lab with the support of our government partners, including DOST, DTI, CHED, and TESDA.

Through these advocacies and initiatives, we hope to improve the electronics industry’s place in the global value chain and increase the competitiveness of the Philippines for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing. The year 2020 was extremely difficult but 2021 ushered in resilient recovery. We look forward to the opportunities that 2022 will bring for the industry. SEIPI and our members will work together in overcoming all challenges to emerge stronger than ever.

God bless us!