Semicon, electronics sector being revitalized

MANILA, Philippines - The semiconductor and electronic business in the Philippines is being revitalized this year through the initiative of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (Comste) by forging an agreement with the Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).

The agreement is to assess the state of the Philippine Science and Technology System and provide research and development support for it.

Through the process, the Philippine semiconductor and electronic sector which was downed in the past years as many of its multinational companies or corporations transferred their plants to other neighboring countries in Asia to be away from labor disputes between the employer and the employees and avail itself of cheap labor.

As a result, the Philippine semiconductor and electronic sector can exploit worldwide recovery in sales which affected by the recent global recession.

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara said Comste, which he chairs, has continued funding the engineering, research and development for technology in eight universities that provides scholarships in master’s and doctoral degrees in various engineering fields.

“It is expected that with the agreement the semiconductor and electronics sector will boom their sales and pave the way to climb up the technological ladder as well,” Angara said.

The senator also said that this will lay the groundwork for the creation of the Philippine Industrial R&D Institute (IRDI) which was already allotted funding this year. 

“Similar to Taiwan’s ITRI, the IRDI will spur the necessary research and development, and link it to industries to produce innovative products and services,” he added.