Japanese firm defers P40-B expansion project — PEZA

THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said one of its Japan-based locators recently deferred an expansion project worth about P40 billion due to the uncertainties over the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities (TRABAHO) bill.

PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza said Philippine Manufacturing Company of Murata, Inc. had allocated P40 billion to add two new manufacturing facilities to its existing two buildings at the First Philippine Industrial Park in Tanauan, Batangas. The expansion project was expected to add 3,000 to 6,000 jobs.

“They’re holding it until they’ll know fate of TRAIN 2,” Ms. Plaza said in a text message on Monday.

“They’ll expand... once incentives remain the same or an attractive TRAIN 2 incentives will be passed,” she added.

The TRABAHO bill mainly seeks to reduce the corporate income tax rate gradually from the current rate of 30% to 20% by 2029, while repealing redundant incentives and limiting their enjoyment to a maximum of five years to industries identified in the Strategic Investments Priority Plan.

The House of Representatives approved the TRABAHO bill, or House Bill No. 8083 on final reading in September, while the Senate has suspended its deliberations pending clear data on the bill’s impact on jobs.

Murata is a global firm engaged in the design, manufacture and supply of advanced electronic materials, leading edge electronic components, and multi-functional, highdensity modules.

Murata’s largest production site in Asia is in the Philippines, where it makes multilayer ceramic capacitors, among other electronic components.

The company has so far invested P7.7 billion in its facility in Tanauan City since it started manufacturing operations in 2012. It earns P5.65 billion in sales per year, according to the PEZA chief.

As of September 2018, the company employs 2,948 people. —