Thursday, August 12, 2004 Labor, not power, costs lead Japanese to China
HIGH power cost is not the major reason behind the relocation of Japanese companies to China from other countries, including the Philippines.
According to Yoshimas Hayashi, Member of the House of Councilors in Japan, most Japanese companies are more concerned about the labor cost than the power cost.
“In Japan, which has a higher power cost than the Philippines, most companies in our country are relocating to China because of the high labor cost in Japan and, not because of the high power cost. I believe high labor cost is also the reason why some Japanese companies in the Philippines relocated (their manufacturing plants) to China,” he told a press conference for the 5th Asian Statesmen’s Forum at the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa Tuesday.
Mactan Export Processing Zone-Chamber of Exporters and Manufacturers (Mepzcem) president Glenn Westerman earlier said the country’s relatively low labor cost, despite its being higher than China’s, is one of its remaining weapons against China’s aggressive economic expansion.
He said China’s wages, because of its rapid growth, are still expected to increase faster than those of the Philippines’ in the next few years.
Interested
Meanwhile, Hayashi said some Japanese businessmen have expressed interest in investing in the Philippines’ power generation and transmission sector, provided the government will push through with its plan of completely privatizing the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the National Transmission Corp. (Transco).
“Privatizing Napocor and Transco and deregulating (the price of power) will increase interest of Japanese businessmen to invest in the power sector in the Philippines,” he said.
This is why the country should speed up the privatization of Napocor and Transco, Bukidnon 1st District Representative Nereus Acosta said.
“If we will not privatize Napocor and Tansco, the government’s budget deficit, which is already very alarming, will be a lot bigger than the country’s GDP (gross domestic product), as Napocor’s losses will be absorbed by the government,” he said.
The Asian Statesmen’s Forum is an organization of House Member Representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Japan, who consider themselves more than just lawmakers.
Acosta said the organization, together with some participants from the private sector in these countries, meet every year to discuss common issues such as elections or democracy, energy, environment, economy and development of culture in each country.
“The forum is a chance for lawmakers to understand policies of other countries in the Asean and Japan, as well as form collaborative efforts with the private sector in these countries. We believe that lawmaking should not consider only the local environment but also the impact of one’s laws on foreign relations,” he said.
Acosta, host of this year’s forum, is the only Filipino member of the organization. This is the first time the event took place in the Philippines. JBN
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