Industry players set out to put PH on regional aerospace map

Local players in the aerospace industry will be rolling out their roadmap this week, as they seek to build up the country’s capabilities and eventually turn it into the region’s prime hub for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of aircraft.

Corazon H. Dichosa, executive director for the Board of Investments industry policy group, said the Aerospace Industry Association of the Philippines (AIAP) has already completed its roadmap and would present it during the Trade and Industry Development (TID) Update this week.

The roadmap “will identify the subsectors that the industry association wants to grow, particularly the parts and components, as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul business,” Dichosa said.

“There is a huge potential for the local aerospace industry. As it is, we already have some of the MRO facilities here. We already have Lufthansa Technik, MOOG Technologies, and B/E Aerospace in the country. Add to that, there is an increasing number of engineering professionals, which means that we are slowly building our capabilities for this growing industry,” she explained.

AIAP is a new industry association and the group’s planned presentation of the roadmap will be a “very opportune time for them to make themselves known as an organized association,” Dichosa said.

What the AIAP wants is to link up with the right government agencies because they need marketing promotion, capacity building and training activities, she said.

Apart from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the group wants to tap the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), an agency of the Department of Science and Technology, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

“The local aerospace industry will need specific skills for their operations. The group already had discussions with the MIRDC, but I don’t know if there are specific trainings that have been lined up,” Dichosa said. “Of course, the industry may seek certain incentives like tax exemptions, but more than asking special incentives, what the aerospace group needs is support from the government in terms of people, training, education and marketing abroad.”

Since the start of the year, the DTI has been pitching the Philippines as an MRO hub in the region among global players in the aerospace industry.  Amy R. Remo