MANILA, Philippines — Japanese multinational Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMC) is planning to invest P7 billion in the next five years to increase its operations in the Philippines, Malacañang said Friday.
MMC President and Chief Executive Officer Takao Kato discussed his company's investment plan for the country during his meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang Thursday.
During the meeting, Kato told Marcos that MMC's expansion plan included adding a new production model at its Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) plant facility in Laguna.
Kato said the Philippines was MMC's most important investment in Southeast Asia, citing its good and stable economy.
"In the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), (the) Philippines is our number one market," Kato told the President.
Marcos, meanwhile, welcomed MMC's expansion of its operations in the country as this would create more jobs for Filipinos.
"The jobs that it will provide, that your investment will provide, are very important to us and certainly, vehicle manufacture is one of those," he said.
The President said that MMC would be included in the government's Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement Program, a new proposed version of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy Program.
MMC is a multinational automobile manufacturer founded in April 1970, maintaining production facilities in Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Russia, and the Philippines.
MMPC is a 100-percent wholly owned subsidiary of MMC, which began operations as Chrysler Philippines Corp. in 1963 as the assembler and distributor of Chrysler, Dodg
As of November last year, the motor vehicle industry sold 425,208 units, with MMPC cornering 19 percent of the domestic market but second only to Toyota with 46 percent.