[In photo: (left, front to back) BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo, ZVEI President and Pepperl+Fuchs CEO Dr. Gunther Kegel, SEIPI President Dr. Dan Lachica, ZVEI Senior Manager Silke Sichter; (right, front to back) Commercial Counsellor Nicanor Bautista, DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual, PH Ambassador to Germany Irene Susan Natividad, DTI Undersecretary Kim Bernardo-Lokin]
The Philippine delegation headed by Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual together with German Electronics and Digital Industry Association (German: Verband der Elektro- und Digitalindustrie or ZVEI) President and Pepperl+Fuchs CEO Dr. Gunther Kegel discussed the possible outsourcing collaboration in the field of electronics manufacturing in a meeting on June 3, 2023 in Berlin.
The proposed collaboration involving ZVEI, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (SEIPI), and the Philippine government, specifically aims to create Original Design Manufacturer (ODM), Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and electronics manufacturing outsourcing opportunities in the Philippines.
This is in light of the continuing challenges of the lack of skilled labor, the rising cost of production, and the diversification and de-risking aspirations in Germany.
ZVEI is one of the most important industrial associations in Germany representing the interests of a high-tech sector covering over 1,100-member companies. They employ around 90 percent of the employees and staff of the electrical industry in Germany. Its members include global players and medium-sized and family-owned companies. The sector also has 879,000 employees in Germany with a combined turnover in 2021 of approximately EUR 200 billion.
Meanwhile, Pepperl+Fuchs, a member of ZVEI, is a Tier I automotive supplier involved in electrical explosion protection and sensor technologies. The company’s Factory Automation Division is a manufacturer of industrial sensors. It makes a range of inductive, capacitive, photoelectric, and ultrasonic sensors, identification systems, barcode and camera systems, rotary encoders, position measurement systems, cord sets, and other accessories. Pepperl+Fuchs employed over 6,000 in 2022 with revenues amounting to EUR 1 billion.
In the meeting, Secretary Pascual emphasized the huge potential of the Philippines to create an enabling business environment for a manufacturing industry given its strategic location that covers the ASEAN market and nearby countries.
The meeting was part of the Philippines’ Europe Investment Roadshow.
