Japan firms eye P56.3-B investments in PH electronics, shipbuilding

Japanese companies have expressed interest in investing some P56.3 billion in the Philippines, covering expansion projects in shipbuilding, electronics manufacturing, semiconductor production, artificial intelligence, and green maritime industries.

According to Malacañang, the investments were committed during separate meetings Thursday with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on the sidelines of his four-day state visit to Japan upon the invitation of the Japanese government.

The investments include those of Tsuneishi Group Corp. to expand its shipbuilding facility in the Philippines, which is expected to make the country the fourth-largest shipbuilding nation in the world next to China, Japan, and South Korea.

It also includes potential investments of Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd., which plans to expand its manufacturing operations, particularly those of advanced heat sink models and thermal management products.

The company also plans to increase the production capacity for high-performance heat sinks at the Laguna Technopark.

Malacañang said Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. is also expected to invest P4.3 billion in advanced electronics manufacturing, covering the construction of a new 4,706 square-meter facility in Cabuyao, Laguna.

MinebeaMistumi Inc., meanwhile, plans to boost its semiconductor backend manufacturing, including battery-related components for hyperscale data centers, optical image stabilization (OIS) technologies, and advanced precision manufacturing.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) earlier said the country has secured $3.4-billion worth of investments from Japanese corporations, which are expected to catalyze "substantive macroeconomic benefits, expanding domestic industrial capacity and directly generating thousands of high-quality, specialized jobs for Filipinos." — VDV, GMA News