Japan firm puts up P230 million wire harness plant in Bataan

MANILA, Philippines — The local subsidiary of Japanese firm Yokowo Co. Ltd. is pouring in P230 million for a manufacturing facility for automotive wiring harness and components in Bataan.

In a statement yesterday, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Yokowo Manufacturing of the Philippines’ investment is being made for a 3.7-hectare factory of wire harness and components in the Hermosa Ecozone Industrial Park in Bataan.

Yokowo will need 800 workers to support its local manufacturing operations.

The company is set to break ground on the facility in January 2022.

Manufacturing operations, meanwhile, will begin by April of the same year.

“The Philippines will play an important role in the company’s regional strategy for supply chain stratification that has always been responsive to expected increases in business volume and global expansion of major clientele,” Yokowo chief executive officer Yutaka Fujita said.

Dita Angara-Mathay, special trade representative at the DTI, said the Philippine operations would support Yokowo’s in-vehicle communication equipment business which accounts for about 60 percent of the group’s consolidated sales.

Yokowo, which is headquartered in Tokyo, offers innovative high-tech products to manufacturers worldwide in electronics, electrical machinery and automotive industries.

“Apart from generating more employment opportunities for Filipinos during this pandemic, Yokowo’s expansion project in the country also supports our innovation and technology-driven thrust in DTI, as well as increases market competitiveness in our wiring industry,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

Yokowo’s investment is the second to be made in wiring harness production by a Japanese firm in the country this year.

Japanese firm Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd. earlier announced it was building its biggest factory in Pangasinan which would employ 10,000 workers.

Higher demand for wiring harness systems is seen in the future as the automotive industry is moving toward fuel efficiency.