The US solar technology firm, Maxeon has announced its plan to invest $900 million in solar energy in the Philippines. This comes as a part of expanding its operations in the country.
This was announced after the officials of Maxeon met with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and his delegation in Washington DC.
Bill Mulligan, CEO of Maxeon which operates the SunPower brand in all global markets including the Maxeon brand in the United States, Canada and Japan, said, “The investment will provide more than 3,000 jobs in the next few years.”
He expressed confidence in administration of President Marcos as one of the reasons behind his company’s expansion efforts. He further noted, “The Philippines has been incredibly important. It is actually a strategic part of our company. And I want to thank you and I want to thank all of the government agencies for all of the help and the support for the 40 plus years that we’ve been in the country.”
He also expressed hopes for expanding its operations in the country in the coming future,too.He revealed that they are starting the expansion of their research and development (R&D) facility in Cavite, which will create around 2,000 engineering jobs in the area.
Maxeon also has major manufacturing facilities in Malaysia and Mexico and is already has its presence in the Philippines since 2003 with its first factory being opened at the Laguna Technopark in Binan City in 2004. Operating under the name of Sunpower Philippines Manufacturing Ltd, it has seven projects in Biñan consisting of manufacturing, IT, and logistics activity.It has also trained a skilled local workforce of managers and solar engineers in the Philippines numbering more than 1,000.
It should be noted that Philippines’ President Marcos is making its policies flexible and attracting foreign investments in the country to boost up up renewable energy sources in the country.Recently, he had also issued executive order to ensure the availability of cheap and reliable energy through the promotion and utilization of renewable energy (RE) sources.
