Hitachi eyes railway projects in Phl

SINGAPORE – Japanese conglomerate Hitachi Ltd. is interested to participate in railway projects in the Philippines in line with its plan to expand its presence in the country.

In a press conference yesterday, Shinya Mitsudomi, global chief strategy officer for rail at Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd. said the group is interested in opportunities in the railway sector in the Philippines.

“Our presence in the Philippines now is very small so we are fully investigating (opportunities). We are interested in monorail (projects),” he said.

Hitachi’s interest in monorail projects in the Philippines forms part of its plan to expand its presence in the country.

Kazuko Amamoto, senior corporate communications manager of Hitachi Asia Ltd. said the group formed the Hitachi Philippines Committee last month to study opportunities as well as draw up a strategy to expand its businesses in the Philippines.

“The Philippines has huge potential so the Hitachi group is interested in the Philippines,” she said.

Hitachi Ltd. president and chief operating officer Toshiaki Higashihara said the Philippines offers opportunities for the group to grow its businesses given its positive economic performance.

“The Philippines has the second highest growth rate in Asia in terms of actual GDP (gross domestic product), and we are expanding business here in various fields, including social infrastructure, urban planning and development systems and home appliances,” he said.

Higashihara said the group is looking at expanding its engineering design facility here.

The group is also interested in providing more urban-related facilities such as elevators and escalators, as well as expanding its home appliance product portfolio.

The amount of additional investments to be poured in, Higashihara said, would depend on market requirements.

Hitachi is also interested in railway projects in the Philippines as it intends to grow that business segment in Asia.

The group is set to establish a specialized unit in Hitachi Asia for its railway signalling business in the Southeast Asian market in April next year given the rapid expansion of railway networks to keep up with the region’s economic growth, population increase and urbanization.

At present, Hitachi employs 2,721 individuals in its 11 companies in the Philippines which increase PHPC Co., Ltd. (integrated engineering company), Hitachi Elevator Philippines Corp. (sales, installation and maintenance of elevators and escalators), Hitachi Industrial Machinery Philippines, Corp. (manufacture of water warmer or cooler), Hitachi Air-Conditioning Products (Phils.), Inc. (sales of air-conditioning), Hitachi Terminals Mechatronics Philippines Corp. (manufacture of automated teller machines’ parts module), Hitachi Sunway Information Systems (Philippines) (information technology consulting and computer hardware), Manila International Freight Forwarders, Inc. (forwarder), MIFFI Logistics, Co. Inc. (warehouse), Hitachi Cable Philippines, Inc. (brake system for automotive sector and devices for automated teller machines) SAN Technology, Inc. (magnet manufacturing) and Philippine Precision Technology, Inc. (industrial tools).

Globally, the group which is headquartered in Tokyo and engaged in the following businesses: information and telecommunication systems; power systems; social infrastructure and industrial systems; electronics systems and equipment; construction machinery; high functional materials and components; automotive systems; smart life and eco-friendly systems; logistics; as well as financial services, has approximately 360,000 employees.