SBMA’s Payumo eyes more Japanese investments in high tech ventures

Japanese investors are using the Subic Freeport as a showcase of their advanced technology, according Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman Felicito Payumo as he expressed optimism that more Japanese firms would come in and invest in high tech ventures.

One of Japan’s biggest publicly listed corporations, Sankyo Seiki, recently opened a $100-million manufacturing plant in Subic.

Sankyo Seiki manufactures high-speed precision electronic equipment, micro-motors for computer peripherals and other specialized digital core parts for multi-media and other businesses.

It projects an annual export volume of $300 million and employment for about 8,000 workers.

No less than President Arroyo formally inaugurated Sankyo Seiki’s manufacturing plant.

According to Arroyo, Sankyo Seiki’s investment in Subic is "an eloquent gesture of your confidence in the economic, social and political stability of our country."

According to Payumo, Sankyo Seiki plans to put up in the future a software engineering center to support its facilities in Subic.

Payumo boasted that Sankyo Seiki’s facilities in Subic would be one of its production centers in Asia as well as a showcase of Japan’s advanced technology.

Yuzo Oguchi, president of Sankyo Seiki (Japan) Co., Ltd., praised Subic. He said the Subic Freeport is "very accessible with readily available skilled and dedicated workers, coupled with a clean environment and a secure industrial estate."