A JAPANESE packaging firm seeks to employ more than 100 workers in Mindanao as soon as its production facility begins its operation in October 2020.

Packwell Inc., a Japanese manufacturer of paper-based packaging and containers, recently leased a 16,000 square meters area in Anflo Industrial Estate (AIE), a 63-hectare project by Damosa Land Inc. envisioned to be the Philippines' premier agro-industrial facility.

"We are making packaging for chocolates or food, so we would like to hire workers from Davao or Mindanao of maybe 100 or 200 to help us in making boxes," said Chang Anqi, sales officer for Packwell Inc.

The company, which will open its first facility in the Philippines as an addition to the four branches it had in Shanghai and Japan, targets to produce one million handmade paper boxes and two million machine-produced boxes in a year.

These paper boxes will be exported to Middle East, Europe, and Japan.

She said she chooses to build her production factory at the AEI because of its strategic location.

"AIE has a very good location. It is near the port. It reduces the possible damages of our boxes and materials during its transportation to the port," said Anqi.

"With the presence of the Japan-based Packwell Inc., I hope that it would spur the interest of other business companies, thus, generating more jobs," Damosa Land Inc. head Ricardo Lagdameo said following the visit of a group of Japanese businessmen in the AEI on Friday.

"I think right now, they are really exploring to know what is available here but so far, they are pleased to see that there is an industrial park that is operational," said Lagdameo.