Electronics sector maps out new blueprint

MANILA, Philippines — The electronics and semiconductor industry is mapping out a new strategy to bolster the amount of new investments and continue propelling exports to new highs.

Under the upcoming industry blueprint called Product and Technology Holistic Strategy (PATHS), Semiconductor and Electronic Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) president Dan Lachica said the sector expects annual investments to rise to $1.5 billion by 2020, $3 billion by 2025 and $5 billion by 2030.

By 2020, the industry is also expected to employ a total of 5.5 million directly and indirectly from the current estimate of 3.2 million, he said.

Lachica said investments in the electronics and semiconductor industry in 2017 stood just “a little short of $1 billion.”

“We believe these are conservative numbers because in the past, we haven’t really been hitting the big numbers. In fact, if you compare to Singapore and Vietnam, they have much bigger numbers. From a projection standpoint we are looking at those numbers,” he said.

“We know for a fact that investments are mostly going to Vietnam, so that’s one of the things we’re trying to address. How can we attract more foreign direct investments,” Lachica added.

SEIPI said the PATHS is set to identify the top products and technologies the industry is focusing on in the next five years in order to develop a niche in the global market, as well as the right conditions necessary for this goal to happen.

Aside from attracting more investments, the industry through PATHS is also eyeing to reach export receipts of $40 billion in 2025 and $50 billion in 2030.

Electronics exports is coming off a record level in 2017, according to Lachica, as it finished the year at $32.7 billion, an 11 percent improvement from $29.4 billion in 2016.

Lachica told The STAR last month that SEIPI sees sustained exports growth in 2018, with electronics exports targeted to increase by six percent, even as the country’s full year exports figures have not yet been released by then.

In a briefing yesterday, Lachica said the target for the year stays at six percent amid electronics exports rising 11 percent in 2017.

The target expansion, he said, may be slower than last year’s rise, but is a sustainable and achievable growth for the industry.

“There are a lot of things going out there in the world, whether they are geopolitical reasons, so we are monitoring this. All in all, it’s a robust and healthy progression. Conservative, admittedly, but we make sure that we deliver the numbers,” Lachica said.

“The industry has been robust. We have weathered storms literally and figuratively so we just take things one step at a time. We know there are challenges out there, we’re not in denial. We’re ready to work the challenges, work with the government and preserve the strength of the electronics industry,” he added.

In achieving its targets under the PATHS, Lachica said semiconductor and electronic companies will need to reduce the dependence on imports as well as reduce dollar leakages.

He said there is also a need to expand the value chain by increasing local demand and domestic investments of small and medium enterprises, while also developing a strong cluster of local suppliers that are capable of providing materials of global quality standards.

“On one hand we can continue what we are doing like the normal expansion with the normal evolution of products, but that hasn’t really taken us much beyond $30 B. so what we really like to do is to infuse technology, infuse giving new services to bring that to $35 billion, $40 billion and beyond,” Lachica said.