Japanese manufacturer Yokowo Co. Ltd. is investing P230 million to set up an automotive wiring harness facility in Bataan province despite the COVID-19 crisis.
The company will build the factory on a 3.7-hectare property in the Hermoso Ecozone Industrial Park to produce wire harness and components and employ about 800 workers.
The Department of Trade and Industry said the factory was expected to begin operations by April 2022.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Yokowo offers innovative high-tech products to manufacturers worldwide in advanced electronics, electrical machinery and automotive industries.
It manufactures antennas, fine connectors, microwaves and advanced devices for the automotive, semiconductor testing systems, mobile device and advanced medical device sectors.
“The Philippine venture will support Yokowo’s in-vehicle communication equipment business which accounts for about 60 percent of the group’s consolidated sales,” said DTI special trade representative Dita Angara-Mathay.
Yokowo chief executive Fujita Yutaka said the Philippines would play an important role in the company’s regional strategy for supply chain stratification that would be responsive to expected increases in business volume and global expansion of major clients.
Yokowa is the second Japanese investment in wiring harness production in the Philippines this year, the first being Sumitomo Wiring System which is building its biggest factory in Pangasinan province.
Sumitomo’s expansion will open opportunities for 10,000 workers in Northern Luzon, adding to the company’s pool of 55,000 workers in the Philippines.
The shift witnessed in the automotive industry towards fuel efficiency will generate greater demand for wiring harness systems in the future, according to the DTI.
Increasing global demand for electric vehicles will further unleash developmental opportunities for market participants over the next couple of years as more governments pledge to support the adoption of electric vehicles to reduce fuel emissions.