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TAIPEI: TWO Taiwanese manufacturers plan to expand
their Philippine operations.
Tong Lung Metal Industry Co. Ltd.
said it will expand its Subic Bay Freeport plant to beef up pro-duction.
Denny Yang, Tong Lung president and chief executive officer, said
the company will invest $10 million.
Tong Lung makes international
lock brands such as EZ Set, Passion and Lucky.
“The new investment in Subic is
expected to generate 600 new jobs, on top of its 400 workers in the
Philippines,” Yang said.
The expansion will be done in a
three-hectare property beside its 2.2-hectare existing plant at the
free port. The existing facility produces at least 1 million
locksets a month.
Yang said the new factory will
increase the company’s capacity by at least 30 percent and will
meet rising demand from the North American market, which the
Philippine unit serves.
He said that Tong Lung is also
eyeing to penetrate other South-east Asian countries under the lower
tariff privilege given to members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations.
Separately, MedTecs Group,
Taiwan’s biggest producer of medical consumables, plans to venture
to the US market by increasing its Philippine plant’s capacity.
Timothy Shen, the company’s
spokesperson, said that MedTechs is eyeing to tap the hospitality
market in the US.
“[We] are planning to cater to
the linen needs of the top hotels in the US, by enhancing [our]
plant in Bataan,” Shen said.
MedTechs manufactures medical
uniforms, bed sheets, catheters, masks, scrubs, medical tubes and
other medical consumables.
Shen said that the Philippines
accounts for 40 percent of its US market share, and by tapping the
hospitality market the company plans to increase its share by at
least 5 percent.
Shen said that while the
Philippines dominates the US market, its Cambodia operations is
likewise competing head-on in Europe.
Last year, MedTechs’ revenues
reached $82 million. For this year, the company eyes to increase
this to $110 million, with the Philippine office driving growth,
Shen said.
--Katrina Mennen A. Valdez
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