MinebeaMitsumi’s leadership recently identified ASEAN as the focus of its expansion activities in the region. With a workforce of over 70,000 in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is currently the second largest production base of the company after Thailand, with over 26,000 workers.
During the meeting, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Fred Pascual discussed that the Department encourages the expansion of MinebeaMitsumi in the Philippines, in turn, trained Filipino workers will not resort to leaving the country. “We have a highly trainable young working population group in the Philippines who are also proficient in the English language.”
Commercial Counselor Dita Angara-Mathay in her capacity as DTI’s lead officer in charge of developing new and shepherding existing trade and investment accounts in Japan reported that the company has affirmed its confidence in the country via a major expansion project in Naga City in Cebu, for the manufacture of optical image stabilizer components for smartphones. She said she arranged calls on Secretary Fred Pascual and DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla for Senior Managing Executive Director Katsuhiko Yoshida who flew directly from the company’s Tokyo Headquarters into the Philippines yesterday. MinebeaMitsumi’s Senior Executive’s agenda is to share with said Cabinet officials details of the company’s investment plans and targets for attaining its SDG goals in the Philippines.
Ms. Angara-Mathay added that the expansion project will require incremental workers approximating 30% of the current aggregate HR complement in the company’s three factories in Santo Tomas, Batangas, Mariveles, Bataan and Danao City in Cebu. The project has a value of approximately PHP 4 billion.
In terms of economic importance, the company holds the distinction of being one of the Philippines’ biggest exporters, employers and tax contributors. It is part of an elite roster of foreign direct investors whose cumulative investments in the Philippines amount to over USD 1 billion.
As a leading Japanese multinational producer of machinery components and electronics devices, MinebeaMitsumi’s many records include having the largest global market share for miniature ball bearings (60%), pivot assemblies for hard disk drives (HDD) and one cell lithium-ion battery protection integrated circuits (80%).
Chairman, President and CEO Yoshihisa Kainuma stressed that “as a manufacturer of ultra-precision components, MinebeaMitsumi strives to construct a system for stable supply by taking advantage of the worldwide manufacturing bases while constructing the safe and secure system for production management. The company contributes to “MMI Beyond Zero” to achieve the reduction of global CO2 emission volume far exceeding its own emissions with products equipped with outstanding environmental performance worldwide”.
As a high precision electronic producer, MinebeaMitsumi is the maker of the world’s smallest miniature ball bearing (1.5 mm), class stepping motors (1.5 mm) and cluster tactile switch (4.0 mm). In addition, it also produces the thinnest guide plate for LED and backlight for LCD (0.3 mm).
The company’s global operations span 96 R&D Centers and factories in 22 countries. These facilities are backed by a labor force of close to 86,000. In March 2022, MinebeaMitsumi reported net sales of JPY 1.12 billion. Its target for sales is JPY 2.5 trillion by 2029.
Consistent with the company’s global core philosophy, Mr. Yoshida plans to raise areas of support from the Philippine government to reduce its carbon footprint. MinebeaMitsumi will be building a solar generation facility with electric generating capacity of 12.82 GWh per year for its own use to meet its carbon neutrality goals as well as address the recent rising cost of energy.
With the planned expansion in Cebu, through the support of the Philippine government, the country can potentially become MinebeaMitsumi’s largest production base in the world.
