LEGAZPI CITY, Jan 24 (PNA) – President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release an amount of P300 million to bolster government’s research and development (R&D) support for the semiconductor and electronics industry, an established driver of economic growth amidst the weakening of export markets.
The fund will be used by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in establishing an Advanced Failure Analysis Laboratory that the country’s manufacturers could use to test their products, Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo said in a statement received here Tuesday.
This project clearly signals that the Aquino administration is committed to the competitiveness and sustainability of the semiconductor and electronics industry as a priority area for job generation, Montejo said.
The industry, which has bolstered economic growth and job generation in the past, should be supported now that global markets continue to be weak, he explained.
With this facility which was positively endorsed by Montejo, local companies that do not have their own laboratories need not send their product samples abroad for testing. This will shorten the turn-around time and reduce costs, Montejo said.
The initiative was one of the agreements forged between the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. (SEIPI) and the DOST along with the DBM, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
To be initially funded by the P300 million provided by the President is the establishment of the advanced failure analysis laboratory that includes the purchase of major equipment and rehabilitation of the building located in DOST Compound to meet the International Standards Organization (ISO) requirements for a state of the art failure analysis facility.
The second phase of the project will deal with the enhancement of the into a “Nanotechnology Testing Center”, Montejo said.
The establishment of such facility is consistent with the Information and Communication Technology and Semiconductors Roadmap of DOST, where nanotechnology research will be geared towards building core facilities for nanometrology, solar cell testing, and failure analysis, he explained.
The electronics and semiconductor sector is considered one of the leading and important industries in the Philippines. Over the last two decades, the industry’s total share to the country’s exports has been steadily increasing from about 20 percent in 1991 to a peak of about 70 percent in 1998. In 2010 alone, the industry generated revenues of about US$ 31 billion, he added. (PNA)
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