MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is courting at least seven out of the 10 largest electronic manufacturers in the world to locate in the Philippines in the next five years.
"We are making this initiative to convert or to evolve and migrate the 70 percent of our electronic exports, which are components, spare parts, into higher-value assembled units or even final products or end-product exports," Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio told reporters in a briefing on Wednesday.
Electronics, which accounted for 52.7 percent of Philippine exports in February, grew 15.8 percent year-on-year. Semiconductors, which comprised 40 percent of the total exports, increased 15.9 percent year-on-year.
"Imagine, we can just convert 50 percent of that 70 percent driven to assembly and finished products, how much more we can improve our overall merchandise exports volume of electronic products. This is almost a $300 billion world market," Panlilio said.
He said seven of the 10 electronic manufacturers are located in Asia, while two are in the US and one in Canada.
"We would like to call them one by one. The first step is to invite them and see our investment climate," Panlilio said, adding that he already talked to at least three of the 10, including Compal.
Citing reports from the Japan External Trade Organization, Panlilio said the Philippines is the most competitive in terms of labor, rentals, price of real estate and the quality of manpower.
"If they are not happy in China because of the high labor cost, they can transfer in the Philippines," he added.
The top global contract manufacturers are the following:
Foxconn/Hon Hai - Its clients include Apple, HP, Dell, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Microsoft, Acer, Intel, Cisco, Nintendo and Amazon. Foxconn operates in China, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Czech Republic.
Flextronics - Its clients include Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Dell, Sony Ericsson, HP, Huawei, Lenovo, Microsoft, Eastman Kodak, Western Digital, Research in Motion and Motorola. Flextronics' manufacturing plants are in Brazil, China, Hungary, Malaysia, Mexico and Poland.
Quanta - Its clients include Apple, HP, Dell, Fujitsu, LG, Siemens, Sony, Gateway, Cisco, Lenovo, Sharp, Panasonic, Research in Motion, Gericom and Toshiba. Quanta's factories are in China, the US, and Germany.
Compal Electronics - Its clients include Acer, Dell, Toshiba, HP, Fujitsu-Seimens and Lenovo. Compal's facilities are in China, Vietnam, Poland, Brazil and the US.
Wistron - Its clients include Acer, Sony, Dell, Microsoft, Lenovo, FSC, and HP, while its assembly plants are in China, the Philippines, Czech Republic and Mexico.
Inventec - Its clients include Apple, Acer, HP, Toshiba, Fujitsu-Siemens, and Lenovo, while its manufacturing facilities are in China, Korea, the US, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Malaysia.
Jabil - Its clients include Apple, HP, Cisco, IBM, Echostar, NetApp, Pace, Research in Motion and General Electric. Jabil's factories are in Brazil, Mexico, Austria, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Hungary, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
TPV Technology - Its clients include Dell, HP, IBM and Mitsubishi Electric, while its factories are in China, Poland, Brazil and Mexico.
Celestica - Its clients include Cisco, Hitachi, IBM and Research in Motion, while its assembly plants are in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico, the US, Czech Republic, Ireland, Romania, and the United Kingdom.
Sanmina-SCI - Its clients include IBM-Lenovo, HP, Cisco, Dell, Nokia and Caterpillar, while its facilities are in Mexico, Brazil, Hungary, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Indonesia and Thailand.
source: interaksyon.com
