Manila, Dec. 26 (CNA) Taiwanese investment in the Philippines in 2009 more than doubled to hit over US$113 million, despite the global economic downturn, according to a report by the Taipei-based Manila Economic & Cultural Office (MEC0).

Ancku Taichung Corp. topped the list with a US$60 million electric arc furnace project being built in Batangas Province, followed by a US$40 million investment plan by TECO Industrial Motors & Applications Group, which produces UMID cards — multi-purpose identification cards used in the Philippines’ social service system — MECO reported.

The two companies’ combined investment has far surpassed the 2008 figure of all investment from Taiwan, which totaled US$45.7 million, MECO said.

Dita Angara-Mathay, MECO’s director of commercial affairs, said Ancku is planning further investment of another US$100 million to build a blast furnace in the Philippines.

To lure greater investment from Taiwan, four delegations from the Philippines sponsored investment seminars and took part in trade fairs in Taiwan last year, in search of more trade and investment opportunities.

Mathay predicted that Taiwanese investment will again double in 2010, with more than 50 percent going to the power sector.

Other Taiwanese firms that have invested in the Philippines this year include China Bond International Services for iron-ore mining in Aparri, worth US$5 million, as well as a US$2 million coal mining project by Shyi Chien Co. Ltd. in Sorsogon Province and a US$2 million plywood manufacturing plant by Tian Yuan Co. Ltd. in Butuan Province.

According to Mathay, a Taiwanese footwear group is scheduled to visit the Philippines in the first half of 2010 to study the feasibility of setting up an operation in Bataan Province.

The Taiwanese footwear maker are considering Bataan because of the availability of huge tracts of property and its proximity to Subic and Clark free port zones, Mathay said, adding that there is still a big possibility that a footwear cluster will be set up by Taiwan businessmen in the Philippines, depending on the willingness of the Philippine government to provide subsidies for land leases. (By Emerson Lin and Flor Wang)

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