Japanese manufacturing giant MinebeaMitsumi is increasing its investment in the Philippines even as it wrestles with stubborn infrastructure gaps.
Speaking at the ASEAN Editors and Economic Opinion Leaders Forum on Tuesday, February 24, Tatsuya Mori, president and general manager for regional affairs in the Philippines, said the company’s expansion strategy rests squarely on one competitive edge. Filipino talent.
“The most important reason is our asset, the people,” Mori said.
MinebeaMitsumi employs nearly 34,000 workers across Cebu, Bataan, and Batangas. Its Cebu facilities produce precision camera actuators shipped to global markets, feeding supply chains that power smartphones and other high-tech devices worldwide.
The workforce is young, English proficient, and predominantly female, about 85 percent, with an average age in the late 20s. In a notable vote of confidence, the company has begun deploying Filipino employees to Europe to help raise labor quality standards in overseas plants.
That talent advantage, however, collides with operational friction.
Frequent power fluctuations and elevated electricity costs, particularly during heavy rains, threaten the stability required for round the clock clean room manufacturing. Even minor disruptions can compromise semiconductor grade production lines where precision is measured in microns and downtime is expensive.
Logistics pose another hurdle. Road conditions in Cebu continue to slow the movement of goods and highlight long standing infrastructure bottlenecks that foreign investors have repeatedly flagged.
Yet MinebeaMitsumi is pressing ahead.
A new semiconductor production facility is rising in Danao, Cebu, signaling corporate confidence and alignment with Japan’s push to strengthen semiconductor supply chains.
For Mori, the calculus is straightforward. Infrastructure may lag, but the workforce delivers. For a manufacturer betting on precision and scale, that human capital advantage appears strong enough for now to keep expansion plans firmly on track.
