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By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter
THE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in
the Philippines inc. (Seipi) said the industry’s investments last
year rose by almost two-fold.
Ernie Santiago, Seipi president, said that
investments stood at $ 1.4 billion or an 87 percent increase over
the $747 million worth of projects registered in 2006.
He said this was the first time the industry
exceeded the one billion dollar mark for investments in recent
years.
“These investments were registered by 83 firms
who have considered relocating here and the expansion projects of
firms with existing base of operations in the country,” the
industry official said.
These 83 firms are expected to generate at least
24,212 job opportunities.
“The establishment and expansion for a new
plant of Texas Instruments in Clark have changed the mindset of most
technology companies who are putting money for new investments in
Asia. It has become [a] magnet for many semiconductor and
electronics companies”, Santiago said.
Santiago said that during the past few months, a
number of companies have been visiting the country taking a second
look at the Philippines as a strategic choice for doing electronics
business. These include small, medium and large semiconductor and
electronics manufacturing companies, including support and allied
industries.
“[We] are expecting to hit another more than
$1 billion of new investments for this year,” he said.
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