Davide to invite factories in Saitama, Japan

The Capitol is exploring partnership with a province in Japan known for its manufacturing industry to attract Japanese firms to put up more investments in Cebu. On invitation by the government of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III will embark on his first foreign trip as governor later this month. A final agenda has not been set but according to  Davide, he and Saitama’s officials could discuss economic partnership. Heading  his agenda  is to “invite more manufacturing plants to set up shop in Cebu.” “The partnership will be one of the agenda because we were invited by their government there. We are going there and that’s one of the topics that will be discussed,” he told reporters yesterday. “We hope to attract investors here, maybe they can put up their own manufacturing plants that will generate employment. We have to attract them really here in Cebu,” added Davide. Davide will leave for his six-day tour to Saitama on Feb. 17. He will be shown around the prefecture’s numerous manufacturing sites which include an automobile plant of the Honda Motors. He said he will also exchange ideas with Japanese officials on their government and business systems. “I am interested because they’re a manufacturing area, we will look at their systems there, how they run their business, even their government because we might adopt some from comparisons and use it as basis for improvement here,” he said. ‘Monozukuri training’ Last Friday, Davide, officials from Saitama, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and directors from the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) formally launched a project to train  engineering students in Cebu dubbed as the “Saitama-Cebu Comprehensive HR Monozukuri Project.” According to Junichi Yoshino, Saitama prefecture government public services executive director, students will learn the ideals of monozukuri, the Japanese concept behind its manufacturing industries. He said the philosophy is centered on “maximizing customer satisfaction and creating products by placing importance on community coexistence, environmental harmony and effective resource utilization.”