No discrimination

This is in reference to Daxim Lucas’ Biz Buzz article titled “Yellow discrimination?” (Business, 8/7/17), wherein he alluded to First Philippine Industrial Park’s (FPIP) predisposition toward Japanese locators at the expense of Chinese locators.

FPIP was established in 1996, and since then has remained true to its vision to provide a world-class manufacturing environment in the Philippines to: 1) attract foreign investment; 2) generate export revenue; and 3) create jobs.

In line with this vision, FPIP has consistently taken action to ensure that park productivity is maximized. It is for this reason that FPIP strictly adheres to a policy of selling property in the industrial park only to end-users. In line with this policy, we have, on occasion, bought back property from locators who have decided to scale down or close down operations. This was the case in 2009 when Fujitsu approached FPIP regarding its intention to sell its property. FPIP bought the property back from Fujitsu in September 2009 after months of negotiation.

Since 2009, we have welcomed 67 new locators to FPIP. Of the 67 locators, 25 locators (37 percent) are non-Japanese. Of the 25 non-Japanese locators, five (20 percent) are Chinese or Taiwanese.

This is proof that FPIP welcomes legitimate locators to its industrial park, regardless of their nationality.

FPIP’s shareholders, First Philippine Holdings and Sumitomo Corporation of Japan, value fairness and conduct business with the highest integrity. We would never condone acts of discrimination based on race, creed, religion, age or sex.

We hope this helps clarify the matter.

FERDINAND EDWIN S. COSETENG, president, First Philippine Industrial Park