Ads by Google Ads by Google

Yazaki's exit shocks Samoa, impacts economy

AUCKLAND -- Samoa's largest private employer, Yazaki EDS Samoa, has sent shockwaves through the country by announcing it was pulling out next year.

Yazaki EDS Samoa, which has been in the country for 25 years, makes automotive wiring harnesses for the Australian car assembly industry, which has been winding down. The Japanese company employs 740 people in a country of just 190,000.

Samoa's government said in a statement Wednesday: "There is no denying ... it will be a loss for Samoa." The government said it hoped it could attract foreign investors and obtain concessions for more seasonal work for its citizens in Australia and New Zealand.

Samoans have to compete with others from Pacific countries for entry into the seasonal workforce. A senior Samoan government official who did not want to be named said Yazaki's move was a "horrible blow" and will leave people out of work and three large buildings without obvious use.

He was among the negotiators to bring Yazaki into Samoa but he accepted that its closure was inevitable. "It is a real blow, but there is not a lot that people can do about it and where can they go?" he said.

Yazaki said a final date for the closure had yet to be decided. Yazaki's move comes after Ford Motor rolled its last Australian-made car off the production line on Oct. 7, eight years after Mitsubishi Motors closed its South Australian plant.

GM Holden, the local division of General Motors, and Toyota Motor are also in the process of winding up their Australian manufacturing operations.

Yazaki Branding Division Manager in Japan Yoko Yamada told reporters in Samoa the closure was the result of the car manufacturing industry in Australia winding down.

Read More at Nikkea Asian Review