Ayala Corp. pushes for manufacturing roadmap

The Duterte administration must to develop a roadmap for the country's manufacturing sector to spur growth, Ayala Corp. Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said on Tuesday.

"I believe it is imperative that we develop an integrated country strategy for the manufacturing sector under a single and unified roadmap across the entire spectrum of the supply chain," he said in a keynote speech during Philippine Manufacturing Summit 2016 in Makati City.

Manufacturing – one of the main drivers of the Philippine economy – expanded by 6.1 percent in the third quarter, which helped grow the gross domestic product by 7.1 percent.

"The country strategy should cover a wide range of areas like policies, incentives, as well as mechanisms to empower the micro, small, and medium enterprises, that are important participants in the manufacturing supply chain," Zobel de Ayala said.

He also pushed for the government to give manufacturing plants the incentives to produce end products rather than just the components and raw materials.

"There is an emerging shift in supply chain strategy, where manufacturers are increasingly finding it more sensible to produce their goods closer to their core markets. This is also known as 'nearshoring' or 'build where you consume'," he said.

According to the Ayala official, the government should look at rolling out a "CARS 2.0" program, to include electronics.

Should this be imposed, two of the companies that would benefit from it are Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI) and AC Automotive, subsidiaries of the Ayala Corp.

IMI is publicly listed as an exporter of printed circuit board assembly, flip chip assemblies, electronic sub-assemblies, box build products, and enclosure systems.

Zobel de Ayala noted the current CARS (Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy) Program excludes electronics companies from the incentives for automotive manufacturer.

"We are leveraging our experience and expertise in automotive through IMI and AC Automotive to deepen our presence in the entire spectrum of the automotive value chain," he added. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News