MANILA, Philippines — With the country's relatively low labor costs compared to other Asian countries, more foreign companies are keen in investing in the domestic electronics and semiconductor and support industries.

Francisco Ferrer, Philippine Exporters Confederation (PHILEXPORT) trustee representing the electronics and semiconductor industry expects these investments to come from big companies that started to inquire about the Philippines.

"There are companies now thinking of expanding in the country rather than in China because the labor cost particularly in Shanghai and Shenzhen is very expensive than in the Philippines," said Ferrer.

Apart from the low labor cost in the country, investors are also encouraged by the overriding thrust of the Aquino administration which is fighting corruption.

Ferrer said the Philippine electronics sector is already starting to recover from the destructive impact of earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March this year.

"It is beginning to stabilize. In fact, one of the larger companies who said it would fully recover by September now sees this would happen in July," he said.

Ferrer said the supply chain was only interrupted for months after the disaster but has normalized. In fact, export shipments are higher now because of the backlog.

Electronics Industry players are hoping to achieve a ten percent growth this year to $33 billion in revenues from around $30 billion in 2010.

original source: Manila Bulletin