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.