Two world’s biggest printer manufacturers are investing over P20 billion in the country for the establishment of high-technology printers manufacturing facilities for the exports market and generating over 6,000 jobs for Filipinos once they start commercial operation in the Calabarzon area.
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) director-general Lilia B. De Lima, in a talk with reporters revealed the big investors but not their complete identities saying the companies with make their own announcement soon.
According to De Lima the bigger investor is a Japanese digital imaging solutions firm, wish is investing P20 billion for a new printer factory in Batangas. The other printer investor is Brother, a primarily printer manufacturer. These two companies were the largest investors approved by the PEZA Board in December last year.
De Lima said the Japanese investor will establish a new project that will produce one new high-tech printer. It has already selected a 20-hectare property in Batangas. On its first year of operation, the firm is expected to employ 4,000 and a total of 6,000 on the third year.
“These are all direct jobs,” De Lima noted.
On the investment of Brother, De Lima refused to divulge the project cost but said it is smaller investment than the other printer project. Brother is also finalizing a 5 to 20 hectare factory location somewhere in the Calabarzon area, she said.
De Lima’s sketchy report also said that Brother is an American investor although the US-based Brother International Corporation’s website states its parent company is Brother Industries Ltd. of Nagoya Japan.
Brother International Corporation is one of the premier providers of products for the home and office use. The website states that its U.S.A. corporate office, located in Bridgewater, New Jersey, was established in the US on April 21, 1954 and markets many industrial products, home appliances, and business products manufactured by its parent company, Brother Industry, Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan.
These products include an award winning line of Multi-Function Center and printers. Brother also provides the number one line of facsimile machine in the U.S. and is the leader in electronic labelling, with its full line of P-Touch Electronic Labeling Systems. With revenues of approximately $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2006, Brother and its subsidiaries employ over 1,100 people in the Americas.
Brother distributes its products both under its own name and under original equipment manufacturer agreements with other companies.

Source: Manila Bulletin - January 16, 2012