Japan firm picks PH as site for wiring harness manufacturing venture

by Roy Stephen C. Canivel, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 24 Oct 2020

A Japanese company is investing P230 million in the Philippines for an automotive wiring harness and components manufacturing facility, the Board of Investments (BOI) said.

Yokowo Co. Ltd has decided to put its new site in the Philippines after doing a 12-month due diligence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the BOI said. It will start operations in April 2022 and hire 800 workers.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Yokowo Co. Ltd. offers innovative high-tech products to manufacturers worldwide in the advancing electronics, electrical machinery and automotive industries.

Yokowo describes itself as specialist in antennas, fine connectors, microwaves and advanced devices for the automotive, semiconductor testing systems, mobile device and advanced medical device sectors.

A new player in the Philippine wiring harness production landscape, Yokowo recently registered a wholly owned local unit in the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission named Yokowo Manufacturing of the Philippines.

It will put up its 3.7-hectare facility in Hermosa Ecozone Industrial Park in Bataan province.

BOI Chair and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said this was the second Japanese investment in wiring harness production in the Philippines this year. The first is Sumitomo Wiring Systems, which is setting up its biggest factory in the world in Pangasinan province.

At a minimum, the expansion project of Sumitomo will create jobs for 10,000 workers in northern Luzon, adding to the company’s roster of 55,000 in the Philippines.