PHL seen as electronics production hub in region
Business Mirror
March 31, 2016
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has seen the Philippines to be a production hub for electronics companies in the region, as the country attracts more investments in the sector.
DTI said on Thursday that the country is fast becoming a regional hub for the manufacture of electronic products and components, with the investments of multinational electronics firms, allowing the country to increase its share in the sector?s global value chain.
Early this month, Taiwan?s New Kinpo Group inaugurated its P1.82-billion facility in Lima Technology Center in Lipa City, Batangas.
Its new facility will engage in production of calculators, electronic keyboards and LED lamps.
The company is registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza).
?New manufacturing facilities in the country represent a strong vote of confidence in our efforts to fast-track reforms and initiatives to attract investments, particularly to further develop our industrial sector,? Trade Secretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. said.
?Our government?s stable macroeconomic fundamentals and commitment to transparency and good governance has led our country to become one of the fastest growing, most resilient, and increasingly competitive economies in the world. The Kinpo Group has recognized this and seen it fit to set up shop in the Philippines,? Cristobal added.
In a previous interview, Peza Director General Lilia de Lima mentioned that the Kinpo Group now has a total investments of P2.5 billion in the country.
Prior to the newly inaugurated facility, the Taiwanese firm?s subsidiaries, AcBel Polytech Inc. and Cal-Comp Electronics and Communications Co., put up facilities in the Philippines for the manufacturing of printed circuit boards and computer peripherals.
This made the Kinpo Group as the biggest Taiwanese investor in the Philippines, according to de Lima.
Moreover, the group eyes to build another facility in another Peza zone, First Philippine Industrial Park, also in Batangas.
Once future projects are completed, the Taiwanese firm projects to employ about 15,000 personnel.
?Statistics indicate that employment in the local electronics industry has been constantly increasing since 2009. In 2014, direct and indirect employment by the sector was registered at 2.8 million,? DTI noted.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the country?s electronics export revenue in 2015 increased by 7.9 percent to USD28.92 billion from 2014?s receipt of USD26.79 billion.?