Four Japanese companies will be expanding their operations in the country’s economic zones through investments amounting to around PHP10.8 billion, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported Monday.

PEZA Director General Tereso Panga, in a statement, said the agency secured the investments during its outbound mission to Tokyo from August 28 to September 2.

The investments came from manufacturers of high-technology products such as TDK Corp., which plans to invest PHP7.2 billion; Taiyo Yuden, PHP1.6 billion; Terumo Corp., PHP1 billion; and Almex Technologies, PHP1 billion.

TDK, which has a facility in Laguna Technopark, will be manufacturing bio-magnetic sensors for monitoring heartbeats. Its two-year expansion will be until 2024.

During the same period, Taiyo Yuden will roll out its expansion to produce its newly-patented Metal Power Inductor, making the Philippines its first overseas manufacturer of the world’s first multilayer-type metal power inductor that uses the latest technology.

“2023 is proving to mark the significant rise of the semiconductor industry with several industry leaders proceeding with their expansion plans to address the projected demand in their products due to the rise of the electronic vehicle industry and steady technological advancements in the downsizing of gadgets and their parts,” Panga said.

To date, there are 877 Japanese firms registered with PEZA, employing 339,751 personnel, and contributing to Philippine exports USD6.37 billion from January to May 2023.

“PEZA will make sure that the country will be poised to receive these investments as we have a small window to get the manufacturing of new high-tech products into the Philippines given the competitiveness of the industry,” the PEZA chief added. (PNA)