PASAY – In a meeting on 9 July, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez supported the expansion plans of aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) company Lufthansa Technik Philippines. These expansions, he said, will help the Philippines to become an aerospace and MRO hub in the Asia Pacific.
“The Philippines is positioning itself as the hub for aerospace manufacturing and aftermarket services in the Asia Pacific Region. We have the young, educated, and highly-trainable workforce that is a boon to investors. If we achieve this goal, we can increase our high-value exports and provide decent jobs to more Filipinos,” said Sec. Lopez.
Lufthansa has been in the country for 20 years, with a 229,000 square-meter lot in Villamor Airbase employing 3,200 people. The company is planning a 9,000 square meter expansion in the area worth US$ 40 million and will add 300 jobs. The expansion will be completed 13 months after they award the contract.
Lufthansa President and CEO Elmar Lutter said that the global MRO market is expected to continuously grow by 4 to 5% per year, one third of which will come from the Asia Pacific Region. Mr. Lutter said that job opportunities in other industries and the growing global demand for MRO skilled workers may lead to a labor shortage in the Philippine MRO industry. Filipinos, he said, are known as skilled aircraft mechanics not just in the Philippines but in the world. “The competitive advantage of the Philippines is its people,” he added.
Lufthansa is registered as an aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) company. They operate at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay, as well as in Cebu, Davao, Pampanga, Palawan, and Aklan. The company enjoys fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. These incentives, Mr. Lutter said, helps Lufthansa deal with challenges in such as stiff competition in the Asia Pacific Region and the logistical costs of operating in an island country.
Also at the meeting were DTI Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman, Assistant Secretary Angelo Taningco, Export Marketing Bureau Director Senen Perlada, and Assistant Director Anthony Rivera.♦
Date of Release: 19 July 2019