The Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc. (Seipi) will come out with its technology roadmap for the country by early next year, paving the way for a more focused technology development strategy.
"Our roadmap is still being finalized, it hasn't been completed yet. Hopefully, we'll be able to get something out by early next year," Seipi vice chairman Arthur Young said in an interview.
The roadmap was supposed to be completed as early as October and presented to President Benigno Aquino III, but a few more months of study and deliberations had to be conducted to make sure that everything was in order.
According to the draft roadmap, some of the technologies that Seipi suggested that the government pursue were those for renewable energy and manufacturing services.
Various technologies related to these two sectors were identified as having the most potential to drive the country's future growth.
Young said in an earlier interview that the country needed to focus on key technologies, considering the meager resources it had at its disposal. Identifying which technologies the country should focus on developing was the very purpose of the Seipi roadmap.
In the area of manufacturing services, the Philippines was already a key player globally via its electronics and semiconductor exports. In the renewable energy arena, on the other hand, the country likewise already had a presence via locally made solar cells and wafers.
Seipi chairman Dan Lachica had earlier said that exports of solar cells and wafers could reach around $1 billion over the next year or two, due to increasing demand for solar technology worldwide. The Philippines currently generates around $800 million in export revenues annually from solar cells and wafers.
Developing solar technologies, Young said, would allow the country to become a key player in the renewable energy space globally. At the same time, this could possibly bring solar power into the mainstream locally by making the technology cheaper to acquire and maintain.
