More Japanese firms are preparing to invest and expand their projects in the Philippines, according to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
PEZA director-general Tereso O. Panga said in a statement Tuesday the recently-concluded investment fora in Osaka and Tokyo yielded new and expansion project applications from Japan’s big-ticket investors and small and micro enterprises including Ichijo Corp., ShinEtsu Corp., OB Kogyo Ltd. and NEC Networks & System Integration Corp.
Panga sid Ichijo plans to increase its annual housing delivery capacity from 15,000 units to 20,000 units in 2024.
Ichijo is poised to contribute significantly to local employment with an additional 3,000 to 4,000 new jobs to their current 23,000-strong manpower complement, creating new opportunities for skilled workers.
OB Kogyo Ltd., a die and mold company, also expressed intent to reinvest $3 million in their Philippine plant over the next three years, bolstering local manufacturing capabilities.
ShinEtsu Corp., a global industry leader in the production and research of high-performance rare earth magnets, informed PEZA of its possible expansion plans which are dependent on the growth of the global electronic vehicle sector.
“These recent big-ticket investments prove that trust and confidence in investing in the Philippines, particularly from our long-standing trade partners such as Japan, are at an all-time high,” Panga said.
PEZA recently approved three big-ticket Japanese investments this year including Green Energy with Torrefaction Technology Inc., Asian Transmission Corp. and Pricon Microelectronics, Inc.
The three investments would bring in P20.591 billion with a projected 1,973 direct workers.
Japan is one of the country’s leading sources of foreign investments.
There are 881 Japanese companies registered with PEZA, bringing in P766.550 billion worth of capital, annual exports of $5.362 billion and generating 340,601 direct jobs for Filipinos.
Co-organized with the Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estates and the Philippine Trade & Investment Centers in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan, the Philippine-Japan Investment Fora in Osaka and Tokyo offered the prospects of investing in the Philippines to several sectors such as manufacturing, IT-BPM, agro-processing and the academe.