Manufacturing in the Philippines

When B/E Aerospace, a US-based aircraft cabin builder of interior parts, looked to build its first factory outside its US home market it did not look a lot further than the Philippines.

B/E Aerospace is the worldwide leading manufacturer of aircraft passenger cabin interior products for the commercial and business jet aircraft markets. B/E Aerospace is also the leading global distributor of aerospace fasteners.

The decision to build its first factory outside US in the Philippines, hinged on the quality of Filipino labor force, the numbers of available engineers (BE Aerospace's GM C. Backlund says 56 per cent of his Filipino labor force has engineering degrees), and the widespread knowledge of English as a second language. Also, the budding domestic industry of potential parts suppliers, influenced the decision. The company's USD100 m factory is part of recent manufacturing investments that supports rising growth in the economy. Data revealed that the Philippines is the fastest growing economy in Asia and that a rejuvenated manufacturing sector is one of the prime reasons. The country is set to hit the upper range of Manila's 6-7 per cent GDP growth target this year , after expanding 6,8 per cent last year, according to analysts.