By Priam Nepomuceno – PNA News
MANILA — Ranking officials of the Government Arsenal (GA) and South Korean corporation SAMYANG Comtech Co. Ltd signed an implementing arrangement for the Force Protection Equipment (FPE) co-production agreement Tuesday.
The agreement was signed by GA director Daniel R. Casabar, Jr., and SAMYANG Comtech Co. Ltd president Kim Jong Il.
GA is a government agency under the Department of National Defense responsible for the production of basic weaponry and ammunition for the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
“This signing of the Implementing Arrangement is pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding on Logistics and Defense Cooperation between the governments of the Republic of the Philippines and the Republic of Korea with its amendment and supplemental Implementing Arrangement dated August 12, 2013,” Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement Wednesday.
The FPE co-production agreement was crafted on July 4, 2017 with technology transfer as a vehicle towards the local manufacture of force protection equipment in the Philippines.
Both parties have agreed on the terms and conditions, which are anchored on the spirit of cooperation and mutual trust between GA and SAMYANG.
The South Korean firm will establish FPE manufacturing and testing facilities in the GA complex, and eventually transfer to the Government Arsenal the technology needed in the production and testing of armor vests and ballistic helmets.
This technology, which is equivalent to the quality of South Korea’s Army FPE, is needed by the GA to develop the capability for the in-country production of FPE to support the requirements of the AFP and other law enforcement agencies, in line with the FPE Acquisition Program of the Philippines.
