The investment commitment of Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in the Philippines will reach a total of $400 million over the next six years, going beyond just the new ceramic capacitor manufacturing facility that it is currently building in Batangas.
Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said this investment pledge was secured during President Benigno Aquino III’s official visit to Japan late last month.
The initial tranche of the promised investment came in the form of a monolithic ceramic capacitor manufacturing plant, which would rise in Tanauan, within the First Philippine Industrial Park, and start running by January 2013.
The Japanese firm has a facility in the country called Murata Electronics Philippines Inc., located within the Philippine Economic Zone Authority’s Laguna Technopark in Sta. Rosa.
According to Murata, demand for electronic components had grown over the years, fueled by the popularity of smartphones and media tablets.
This prompted it to further expand its operations overseas, to capitalize on both cost and workforce skill advantages.
“Such demand is anticipated to grow even further in the future. In this environment, we have been examining the expansion of overseas production and the enhancement of our production base in order to meet our rising supply obligations,’’ a company statement read.
“Consequently, we have decided to establish a new overseas production base in the Philippines in view of securing a stable and abundant workforce and targeting emerging markets such as the Asean,’’ it added.
A number of other business agreements between Filipino and Japanese companies were also signed during Mr. Aquino’s official visit.
These included the agreements between Orix Corp. and Federal Land Corp. for the establishment of the Grand Hyatt Hotel at the Bonifacio Global City, between industrial gas firm Ingasco and Clark Development Corp. for a $50-million air separation plant to be built within the Clark Freeport, and between the Transnational Diversified Group and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha Line for a $70-million maritime project.