Fujitu to expand Asia-Pacific hub operations

Fujitu to expand Asia-Pacific hub operations

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Singapore

Japanese giant Fujitsu plans to beef up its Asia-Pacific hub operations in Singapore over the next five years and strengthen its presence in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, an executive said in a report published on Wednesday.

The high-tech conglomerate has earmarked S$100 million (US$60.6 million) to expand its headquarters in the city-state and its data center management services, part of its information technology (IT) outsourcing business.

"The increase in investment will be proportionate to revenue growth projected over the next few years," Norikazu Karasuda, Fujitsu Asia's regional group chief executive officer, told The Business Times.

The Tokyo-based company said it will also spend S$30 million through 2007 to beef up its operations in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Fujitsu makes hard disk drives, printed circuit boards and hard disk magnetic heads at plants in Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

"With Singapore as our regional base and with a deep understanding of the ASEAN market, we're well-positioned to capitalize on the region's fast-growing demand for IT outsourcing and other sophisticated info-comm services and solutions," Fujitsu's chairman and chief executive officer Naoyuki Akikusa was quoted as saying.

ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, consists of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma).

Akikusa told the newspaper that his goal is to ensure that Fujitsu's growth in Asia is at least twice that of the overall market.