Taiwanese lockmaker building $5-M facility in Subic

REPORT FROM BUSINESSWORLD TAIWANESE PRODUCTION firm Tong Lung Philippines Metal Industry Co., Inc., will invest $5 million more or P232.09 million to expand its local manufacturing operations in the Subic Bay Freeport. In a statement, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said it recently inked a new lease agreement with the Taiwan-based company, which produces lock components. Tong Lung Director Tony Ho was quoted as saying, "the additional investment will be used to establish a new factory near its first production facility at the Subic Bay Industrial Park to meet the growing demand for high-end locks worldwide." The expansion also entails the hiring of 600 new employees on top of some 400 workers it hired since 1998. "The expansion project is further proof that Subic continues to be a viable investment destination," SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza was quoted as saying. Tong Lung, founded in Taiwan in 1954, exports its products to various markets in Asia, America, Europe and Africa. The firm is capable of producing 1.8 million locksets a month with the help of computer-aided design and automated precision machinery. Tong Lung also said it had been refocusing its mass production program to higher-end products, which require strong and flexible capabilities in research and development. Japanese sensor-maker Nicera Phils., also signed a new contract with SBMA last week for its P200-million expansion project. Nicera produces electronic sensors, and pyrosensors, or infrared sensors that are exported to Japan and other Asian countries. New investment commitments in the Subic Bay Freeport soared to $1.38 billion in the first half of this year spurred by a $684-million investment by South Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corp. SBMA’s 2007 midyear report said the agency sealed 64 new investment projects from January to June this year, bringing the total number of projects in Subic to 831 with a cumulative investment value of $5.149 billion. — Bernardette S. Sto. Domingo/BusinessWorld