President Benigno Aquino III
OEM opens new ink cartridge manufacturing facility in Batangas.
Manila Standard Today reports that Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has thanked Brother Industries for investing in the country at the opening of the company’s new manufacturing facility at First Philippine Industrial Park in Batangas; where the OEM will produce ink cartridges for its inkjet printers and all-in-ones.
Brother is reportedly investing over P5 billion ($116.2 million/€85.8 million) to set up two manufacturing facilities in the area over the next three years, with the second facility to manufacture Brother inkjet printers and all-in-one devices. By 2015, Brother expects to employ 3,500 Filipino workers, with the newly opened facility currently employing 400 workers from the local area.
President Aquino told Brother: “Your decision to set up shop here assures us that we are on the right track towards the resurgence of industry, the creation of more jobs and a future of sustainable, broad-based growth.”
Toshikazu Koike, President of Brother Industries, said that a number of Southeast Asian countries were considered for the manufacturing investment, but the Philippines was selected “due to its developed infrastructure, abundant labour force, attractive tax benefits, high capability of Filipinos in English communication, and of course, the hardworking and cheerful attitude of Filipinos”.
He commented: “Brother Japan has high hopes for this newest manufacturing facility in the Philippines. We believe in the power of this nation and the Filipino people […] As we aim to reach our goal of having Brother Philippines become a major production facility in the whole Brother Group, we also would like to humbly request for your [Filipinos] continuous support to us.”