Seiko Epson holds off investment plans, awaits Duterte’s policies

MANILA, Philippines – With an ongoing plant expansion in the country, Japanese manufacturing giant Seiko Epson Corp. intends to wait for the incoming administration’s policies to be established first before crafting new investment plans for the Philippines.

Epson Philippines Corp. president and country manager Toshimitsu Tanaka said the company remains optimistic with the Philippines despite uncertainties surrounding the entry of the new administration.

“At this moment the Philippines is one of the highest growth countries in ASEAN so we want to focus on the Philippines, but that depends on the new president. I’m not sure of the new policies of the new government so I think after getting new policies then we will decide,” Tanaka said.

“Concerning the current Philippine market, one of the critical things for a foreign company like us is safety and security. So if he focused on improving safety and security and traffic also, maybe more international companies will invest in the Philippines,” he added.

At present, Tanaka said Seiko Epson is on track on making the Philippine factory its biggest inkjet printer manufacturing facility in Asia, overtaking that in China.

Tanaka said Epson Philippines is set to complete early next year the construction of the firm’s new P4.5 billion inkjet printer and projector manufacturing plant in Lipa, Batangas.

The new facility is located beside Epson’s existing plant and is expected to double its production capacity and workforce.

Epson’s Batangas plant currently has a workforce of 12,000.

“Philippine factory is one of the biggest among Epson factories. Our main factories are located in the Philippines, Indonesia and China. After making a new factory here, Philippines will be the biggest,” Tanaka said.

Epson printers and projectors that are manufactured in the country are sold locally as well as exported worldwide, Tanaka said.

For this year, Epson Philippines expects revenues to grow double digits on improving spending power of Filipinos and a slew of new products it is set to launch in the coming months.

Epson Philippines said it is currently the market leader in both inkjet printers and projectors with market shares of 48 percent and 36 percent, respectively, as of end-2015.