The recent ceremonial shoveling of Japanese company Packwell Inc., which will be opening its production facility inside the Anflo Industrial Estate (AIE) in Panabo City reflects high investor confidence.
Packwell Inc. is a manufacturer of paper-based packaging and containers and is one of the global industry leaders in the design, manufacturing and sale of quality paper packaging containers. Two of their prominent clients include Godiva (Belgian chocolatier with over 600 stores across the globe) and IQOS (designer and maker of sophisticated electronic tobacco heat sticks). Damosa Land Inc (DLI) First Vice-President Ricardo Lagdameo told Edge Davao that the ground breaking is a significant milestone, not just for AIE, but for the Davao Region.
“It shows that there is investor confidence in the region and us as a company. We hope that this will be the start of more Japanese and other foreign direct investment coming in,” Lagdameo said.
With the construction of the plant targeted to start by January next year, Packwell is eyeing to set up a facility on a 1.6-hectare lot within the 63-hectare AIE owned by Anflo Industrial Estate Corp. and managed by DLI.
The Japanese company is eyeing to start its operations by 2021 and is looking at employing about 200 workers at the packaging plant.
Lagdameo believes that Packwell’s entry into AIE will create jobs and will send a good signal to other foreign investors.
Lagdameo also announced that their latest signing was with Manly Plastics, the country’s largest integrated plastics manufacturer.
“We also continue to speak with other companies which we hope will sign on with AIE next year 2020,” he added.
AIE is accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) that focuses on agro-industrial processing as well as light manufacturing. The AIE has support facilities for manufacturing, warehousing, processing and exporting complete with world-class water and power systems, ample space, wide roads and logistical networks.
