RP to remanufacture Bell choppers

RP to remanufacture Bell choppers

MANILA (AFP): A plant will be set up in the Philippines to
first "remanufacture" Bell helicopters and then assemble
helicopters for export, President Fidel Ramos said in a speech
here Saturday.

Ramos made the speech in a visit to an industrial park in his
home province of Pangasinan.

In his speech, copies of which were issued in Manila, Ramos
said a company called "Asian Aerospace Corporation" would set up
a helicopter center in the park initially "to handle the
remanufacture (reconditioning) of Bell helicopters for
neighboring countries."

The second phase of the project will involve the assembly and
manufacture of some of the components of the Bell 206L-3 Long
Ranger helicopter for both export and domestic sales, he said.

Ramos did not say who was going to set up this venture or when
it would start assembling helicopters.

Also at the same park, Ramos said a plant which will assemble
Proton Wira cars would be operational by September and that the
plant would eventually produce engines, transmissions and other
components to be used in locally-assembled cars for export.

The company, Proton Pilipinas Corporation, is a joint venture
which is 70 percent owned by Philippine companies and 30 percent
by Malaysian firms.

The Proton car firm is part of the ASEAN industrial Joint
Venture (AIJV) program, a scheme to encourage joint ventures
between businessmen from members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations.

The Philippines and Malaysia, as well as Brunei, Indonesia,
Singapore and Thailand, are members of ASEAN.