STIHL Group allots P2.5 B for Batangas plant

MANILA, Philippines - German power tool maker STIHL Group is spending P2.5 billion to put up  a manufacturing facility in Batangas.

In a statement, STIHL Group said it will construct a 60,000-square meter facility at the First Philippine Industrial Parkin Sto. Tomas, Batangas for its subsidiary ZAMA Corp.

The plant will produce a wide array of products including carburetors for small fuel engines.

It is expected to be operational by 2016.

ZAMA which has been granted pioneer status by the Philippine EconomicZone Authority for its operations will enjoy incentives such as income tax holidays.

“This is ZAMA’s biggest building investment to date and a milestone in the history of our subsidiary,” STIHL executive board chairman Bertram Kandziora said.

ZAMA president Jan Grigor Schubert and Nikolas Stihl, chairman of theadvisory board of Stilh Holding AG & Co. personally met with PresidentAquino during his recent trip to Europe to discuss STIHL’s in the Philippines.

“During President Aquino’s visit in Berlin, he talked about the training program for skilled workers provided by TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) and how investing companies like ours can cooperate with the government agency to provide vocational training to our pool of employees,” Schubert said.

Stihl said the group is impressed with the steps taken by the Philippine government to improve the business environment and encourage investors to locate in the country.

“We are confident that our decision to locate in the Philippines will prove to be beneficial to all stakeholders,” he said.

ZAMA is recognized as a technology leader and the world’s largest manufacturer of diaphragm carburetors.

The firm which produces more than 14 million carburetors in 350 different models, has plants in Japan, Hong Kong, China, and the United States.

The STIHL Group develops, manufactures and distributes power tools for professional forestry and agriculture as well as for garden and landscape maintenance, the construction sector and the demanding private user.

The group distributes its products through its network of 40,000 approved dealers in over 160 countries.