A Japanese manufacturer inside Mactan Economic Zone, or MEZ, in Lapu-Lapu City opened a bigger facility valued at almost P1 billion.

Philippine Economic Zone Authority, or PEZA, director general Tereso Panga said model car manufacturer Tamiya Corp. opened its newly expanded facility to build P26 million worth of export products annually. Tamiya is a maker of plastic model kits.

PEZA said Tamiya invested P933.84 million for the new facility at the Cebu Light Industrial Park in Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

"Tamiya's expansion is a strong testament to its continuing trust and confidence in the Philippines, and to the great skills and attitude of the Filipino workforce. It likewise represents the continued commitment of Japanese companies to the Philippines as their best bet for operations," Panga said in a press statement.

P10-B new projects planned

He said there are 877 Japanese companies in ecozones administered by Peza that invested a total of P766.5 billion as of June 2023. These companies produced $6.4 billion worth of exports from January to May this year.

Panga said that PEZA had secured P10 billion worth of total investment commitments from Japan.

The largest investment commitment was the P7.2 billion from electronics company TDK Corporation which is first expanded beginning 2023 until 2026.

The next investment commitment is the P1.6-billion expansion plan of materials and electronics firm Taiyo Yuden, as well as the P1-billion commitment that will each come from medical device company Terumo Corporation and platting machine manufacturer Almex Technologies.