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Raimondo leads first-of-its-kind trade mission to Manila

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Twenty-two firms including Google, Microsoft ( MSFT ) participated

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Raimondo says U.S. will not decouple from China

(Adds more details and quotes on decoupling in paragraphs 3-11)

By Mikhail Flores

MANILA, March 11 (Reuters) - American companies are set

to announce investments amounting to more than $1 billion in the

Philippines, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said during

an official visit to Manila on Monday.

Raimondo is heading a two-day trade and investment mission,

the first of its kind for the Philippines. The delegation

includes executives from 22 companies including United Airlines

, Alphabet's Google, Visa, KKR Asia

Pacific and Microsoft ( MSFT ).

The investments will span areas like solar energy, electric

vehicles and digitisation, she said.

United said last week it would launch new flights from

Tokyo-Narita to Cebu, Philippines starting July 31.

U.S. efforts to deepen economic ties with the Philippines

come in tandem with increased cooperation in defence. Both U.S.

President Joe Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr

are keen to counter what they see as aggressive actions by China

in the South China Sea and near Taiwan.

Speaking at a joint briefing with Philippine officials after

meeting with Marcos at the presidential palace, Raimondo said

Washington's commitment to expanding trade and investment in the

Philippines extends to the larger Indo-Pacific region through

the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework - a 14-nation U.S.-led

group.

Raimondo reiterated the United States has no intention of

"decoupling" from China but it would not be allowed access to

Washington's advanced technology.

"My job is to protect the American people and to make sure

that our most sophisticated technology, including semiconductor

technology, artificial intelligence technology that we have and

China doesn't have, that they can't access it and use it to

enable the Chinese military," Raimondo said.

She also reaffirmed the United States' alliance with the

Philippines, calling it "ironclad".

The Philippines has a 73-year-old mutual defence treaty with

the U.S., making it Washington's oldest treaty ally in the

Asia-Pacific region.

After her Manila visit, Raimondo will travel to Thailand for

two days of meetings. She will lead members of the U.S.

President's Export Council to identify opportunities for the two

countries to strengthen cooperation in areas such as

manufacturing and supply chain resiliency.