US semicon giant to invest P13.5 B in RP unit

Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II said a US company, Amkor Technology, Inc., is going ahead with its plan to invest an additional $300 million (P13.5 billion) and employ an additional 3,000 Filipinos in its semiconductor plant in Muntinlupa.

Roxas said the current political controversy in the country is not a distraction that can change Amkor’s evaluation of the Philippines as a key strategic location.

But he appealed to politicians to settle the controversy through a process provided for under the Constitution. A delay, he said, contributes to a feeling of uncertainty among some companies worried about the impact of regional and local events on the peso, and new costs from rising prices of crude.

"On the part of the Department of Trade and Industry, we continue our focus on creating more jobs by promoting more investments and more exports," Roxas said.

Antonio R. Ng, president of the local subsidiary Amkor/Anam Pilip-inas, stated in a letter to Roxas that the company is recruiting an additional 3,000 workers as the company readies itself to supply more of the growing demand of foreign buyers for semiconductor components.

Ng said "Amkor remains committed to the Philippines and to the company’s future here."

The new investment is on top of the $200 million the company spent in Amkor/Anam Pilipinas last year, he said.

The company forecasts an increase in exports from $2 billion in 1999 to $4 billion annually by 2005.

"With the help of the government, we are hoping that the total FOB sales of the Amkor Technology Group, as a whole, from the Philippines, in 2000 will reach $4 billion," he wrote Roxas.

US semicon... From Page 25

The trade secretary said investors base their decisions on a long list of key criteria reflecting the contribution that a country’s manpower, location, educational facilities, infrastructure, politics and economic reforms add to the ability of a company to compete for expanding business opportunities in the global market.

"Such decisions are not done overnight," said Roxas. "Top executives devote months of researching, learning and verifying before arriving at an investment decision involving large amounts and for the long term."