Local aerospace industry seen to boost revenues, jobs

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is hopeful that the aggressive development of a local aerospace industry will generate revenues and employment similar to those produced by the information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector.

Science Secretary Mario Montejo told reporters recently that the country has a large pool of trainable workers who can work for multinational aircraft parts manufacturers if they decide to open their business here.

Montejo said Moog Inc., a multinational aerospace company that operates in Baguio City, has expressed desire to expand their operations here if the government will establish the necessary support, testing and other facilities.

Moog Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of aircraft and missile components.

“They have been pleased with Baguio. And lately, they have decided to change their business model wherein they will go into more aircraft components manufacture,” Montejo said.

He said there were certain “small gaps” that need to be addressed to encourage the company to push through with its plan.

He said these include the lack of facilities to allow the conduct of non-destructive testing, coating, quality assurance and heat treatment systems.

But Montejo said the government is addressing most of the gaps, adding that these entailed investments worth millions of pesos.

“The potential is huge. It is comparable to IT-BPO,” Montejo said.

He said if the government will be able to convince Moog, other aerospace players may follow suit.

He said currently, the aerospace industry contributes around $1 to $1.5 billion revenues to the Philippines’ gross domestic product.

Montejo said a growth in the aircraft components manufacturing industry could generate revenues of up to $6 billion in a few years.

The local IT-BPO industry reportedly delivered around $20 billion revenues in 2014, and plans to increase this by $5 billion more in two years.

Montejo said aerospace components manufacture has low energy requirement.

He said manufacturing operations could be located outside Metro Manila.