First Philippine Industrial Park, Inc. (FPIP) is one of the Philippines’ largest and fastest-growing industrial parks today. With over 600 hectares of prime industrial land, it is now the preferred location of 150 world-class locators. FPIP was established in 1996 in response to the government’s call for private-sector assistance in catalyzing industrial growth. Today, FPIP continues to work with its locator partners in contributing to national development and economic growth by helping generate nearly 80,000 local jobs and billions of pesos in annual export earnings.

Financial Performance

  • FPIP posted an increase in recurring revenues in 2023 due to new leasing contracts for ready-built factories (RBF) from locators such as An Li Jia Technology Phil. Corp., Collins Aerospace, TE Optoelectronics Technology Co. Phils. Inc., among others. FPIP’s water service revenues also saw an uptick, driven by higher tariff rates offsetting a decrease in volume compared to the previous year. Additionally, the revenues from laboratory services, hotel and dormitory revenues for Phase 2 of Consuelo Park’s Residences, and land lease income from locator Murata contributed to the increase in revenues. However, FPIP’s consolidated net income declined to PHP174.9 million due to higher operating expenses, depreciation, and interest expenses.

2023 Key Highlights

  • FPIP remains on track to transform itself  from an industrial park into an inclusive, resilient, regenerative, and decarbonized job-centered community while remaining true to its goals of elevating industry, community and the environment.
  • In 2023, FPIP welcomed seven new locators - two industrial locators and five commercial locators. TE Connectivity, which came in 2022 and started its operations in the park in 2023, is an industry leader and manufacturer of electronic connectors and interconnection devices with the potential to bring higher value through technology transfer.
  • Moreover, consumer electronics maker Dyson is investing PHP11 billion to expand its current operations in the Philippines and establish the Philippines Technology Center in FPIP, which will house its Philippine offices, research and development (R&D), and advanced motor manufacturing capabilities. The construction of Dyson’s Philippines Technology Center in FPIP is currently ongoing.
  • Dyson is expected to commence operations by the third quarter of 2024, plans to recruit over 400 engineers specializing in software, AI, robotics, fluid dynamics, and hardware electronics, as outlined in its press release. The company also plans to hire over a thousand more employees.

ELEVATING INDUSTRY

  • Towards the goal of establishing FPIP as the manufacturing hub of choice of high value-add locators, FPIP is now home to over 150 locators and more than 70,000 employees. Cumulatively, FPIP remains the top-performing industrial park in terms of investment value from 2019 to late 2023, despite the challenges faced during the pandemic. FPIP continues to attract global industry leaders as new anchor locators, such as TE Connectivity and Dyson, and continues to be partners with current locators in their expansion plans. These will contribute to the growing export revenue contributions, which is currently at USD2.34 billion.
  • True to its mission of advancing national development not only by catalyzing industry, but by also creating jobs, FPIP locators account for 70,000 jobs that, using the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) multiplier formula, effectively translate into over over one million Filipino lives being positively impacted by said jobs.

ELEVATING THE COMMUNITY

  • FPIP elevates the community through its strategic interventions to assist host communities in Tanauan City and the City of Sto. Tomas, Batangas. It does so through the implementation of its FPIP Kabuhayan corporate social responsibility programs such as employment and livelihood opportunities, scholarship grants, disaster relief, health and wellness programs, and other CSR initiatives.

ELEVATING THE ENVIRONMENT

  • The organization continues to shift to renewable energy, where possible, primarily making use of the Green Energy Option Program (GEOP) and solar panel installations. FPIP is also working with First Gen to potentially develop solar farms within FPIP expansion sites which will augment First Gen’s renewable energy capacity and also provide FPIP locators with an additional source of renewable energy.
  • FPIP continues to refine its Water Sustainability Masterplan to address the changing conditions of water supply and demand within the park. To ensure the sustainability of our natural resources, FPIP is playing an active role in the San Juan Sub-basin LLDA Water Quality Management Area, where two employees were recently elected as officers. Moreover, FPIP signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the Adopt-A-River initiative, which will protect, preserve, and conserve a 3.4-km stretch of the San Juan River. As part of this agreement, two river cleanup activities were held within the year.
  • In 2023, FPIP joined the Net Zero Carbon Alliance, a multi-sectoral movement launched by EDC that is aimed toward attaining net zero carbon emissions among businesses in the Philippines, and encouraged locators to do the same.

Other Highlights

  • The Consuelo Park Residences boosted its capacity by increasing the units from 36 in 2022 to 95 in 2023. Bed capacity also increased to 380 beds.
  • In 2023, OVE ARUP and Partners came on board to refine the original masterplan by US-based urban planning firm Sasaki for the development of the township project. As an interdisciplinary firm specializing in infrastructure engineering design, ARUP concentrated on solidifying the project’s overall infrastructure, all the while integrating our aspirations towards sustainability in their framework. By integrating the human experience of breathable urban design in our project’s initial development phase, we establish human-oriented design values at the forefront of our plans in bringing the township project to life.
  • FPIP has also commissioned in-depth studies, including a comprehensive water study, regeneration and decarbonization embedding study, and a comprehensive framework toward becoming a Decarbonized and Regenerative Park by 2030.
  • In 2023, FPIP crafted a comprehensive ESG roadmap mapping out progress and outlining plans towards decarbonization and regeneration. This was presented to the Board and subsequently approved. The company also formed a strengthened ESG TWG to oversee the strategy and implementation of the park’s decarbonization and regeneration goals.

Looking Forward

  • FPIP continues to play its role as a value-adding aggregator of solutions—providing a wide range of products and services that will not only cater to locator-firms but also their employees, and eventually, the communities that emerge from the transformation. It will enable high-value-adding job creation and manufacturing-centered communities and help build future-ready townships and high-growth industries, transforming them into inclusive job-centered communities.
  • In 2024, FPIP will prepare to launch its Park Access Management System which will digitalize the application process and tracking of visitors, vehicles, and employees in the park. The system will feature an online platform for application, automated ID access technologies, and an online payment gateway, providing ease of access to those entering and exiting the park.
  • Additionally, FPIP will put in place within the park a fiber telecommunications infrastructure to connect locators with providers. This will provide locators with more options for their telecommunications needs. Moreover, FPIP will also launch the FPIP Community Commercial Center.
  • To capture manufacturers who are seeking to stabilize their production by diversifying and expanding their manufacturing footprint outside ASEAN countries like Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia, FPIP will: a) continue to strengthen its working relationships with government investment promotions agencies such as Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and the Board of Investments (BOI),  b) interface with parent company Sumitomo Corporation’s network and sales arm to help attract a significant number of Japanese locators who are seeking to diversify their supply chain by presenting FPIP’s industrial offerings, and c) fully engage with chambers of commerce, industry associations, and its current locator network.
  • For BOI and PEZA’s priority sectors, FPIP sees opportunities in high-tech/advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles, semiconductors, science, technology, and innovation in line with our aim of elevating industry by attracting more high-value-adding locators to the park. There is also an opportunity in green metals and the extractive industry, where the Philippines has the potential to move into processing these ores rather than just extracting them. Relevant to our aim of elevating the environment, we also see opportunities in the renewable energy industry as well as PEZA’s thrust towards eco-industrial park development.