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.