SMC to expand into Asia

SMC to expand into Asia

SINGAPORE (Reuter): SMC Corporation, a leading maker of pneumatic controls, is planning investments in Asia totaling more than US$100 million, a senior company official told reporters yesterday.

The largest share of the investments will be in China but the Japan-based company also plans significant investments in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, said Peter Driver, chairman, Asia-Pacific of SMC Pneumatics (Australia) Pty Ltd.

He said SMC will invest close to $100 million in China for manufacturing facilities expected to be completed by July 1997. The company currently has 66 distribution outlets in China.

SMC Corp yesterday officially opened a Singapore $10 million training and logistics center in Singapore. It set up operations in the island republic in 1974.

Driver said the company is planning to invest in Indonesia and Vietnam. It now has subsidiaries and plants in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand and India.