Japanese tech giant Toshiba Corporation is planning a multi-billion-peso investment in the Philippines over the next three years to expand its production of high-capacity hard disk drives, a move expected to generate about 3,000 jobs.
Department of Finance (DOF) secretary and investment czar Frederick Go met with Toshiba officials led by chief operating officer and senior executive vice president Koji Ikeya to discuss the expansion of the Japanese company’s nearline hard disk drive (NL-HDD) production capacity in the country.
NL-HDDs are high-capacity storage devices commonly used in data centers, where storage requirements are increasing alongside the growth of cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), digital services, and other data-intensive applications.
The government did not disclose the exact value of Toshiba’s planned investment or provide a timetable for the additional production capacity beyond the three-year investment period.
“We see Toshiba’s planned expansion as an opportunity to strengthen our industrial base, build an electronics and tech industry ecosystem that creates quality jobs for Filipinos, and position the Philippines to capture opportunities in the growing global technology and data economy. Toshiba’s continued commitment to the Philippines is a testament to the success of reforms such as CREATE MORE in attracting long-term investments,” Go said.
Go and officials of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) said the government would facilitate the planned investment.
Toshiba has maintained manufacturing operations in the Philippines for three decades through Toshiba Information Equipment Philippines Inc. (TIP), which was established at Laguna Technopark in 1995 and began operations the following year.
The company currently operates two manufacturing facilities in Laguna, including another site at Carmelray Industrial Park 1 in Calamba.
Its Philippine operations manufacture and assemble hard disk drives, enterprise solid-state drives, and helium-filled HDDs. The facilities also handle engineering and design services, rework, and printed circuit board assembly.
“The Philippines has been an important part of Toshiba’s manufacturing operations for more than three decades. We remain committed to growing our presence here, building on the skills and dedication of our Filipino employees, and working with the Philippine government to advance our next phase of investment,” Ikeya said.
