HITACHI Asia Ltd - one of Hitachi Ltd of Japan's regional headquarters - expects its business in Malaysia and other Asian countries excluding Japan to grow this year.
replica rolexThis will buck the trend at other Hitachi regional headquarters especially North America and Europe.
Senior Hitachi Asia executives said Hitachi could expect a single- digit growth in the region when it closes its year ending March 2010 account.
In comparison, the group may see contractions in North America and Europe and a flat growth in Japan during the year, they added.
Hitachi Asia is one of four regional headquarters for Hitachi's worldwide operations. The other three are North America, Europe and China.
Southeast Asian countries accounted for about 8 per cent of Hitachi group's overall sales. In 2007, the group posted its best sales of S$176.3 billion (S$1 = RM2.42) before slowing to S$156.5 billion due to the global downturn.
Hitachi Asia managing director Takayuki Hirota said the Hitachi group recognised a big potential in Malaysia particularly to grow its business.
Its business in Malaysia, Hirota added, should grow this year given the improved economic outlook, although the rate may not be as fast as in Vietnam.
"We always include Malaysia in our annual expansion plan. We are now also looking to grow our business in Vietnam. We have only one production company there (Vietnam) at present."
replica clothingHirota was speaking to reporters at the briefing on the Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative (HYLI) Alumni Forum in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Also present was the secretary-general of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat.
With more than 8,000 employees, Hitachi currently operates 12 production and 13 sales companies in Malaysia.
Hitachi Asia (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd managing director Seiji Yoshimura is bullish that its business in Malaysia will expand.
Yoshimura said this is due to the large deals expected to be secured in the domestic power and petroleum sectors.
"Our initial confidence stems from the global economic recovery which has spread at a faster pace among Asean countries, compared to other regions.
"We have tendered for three to six mega projects and remain confident of winning a majority of it based on previous achievements," he said.
The tenders
embroidered patches included projects from Petronas and Tenaga Nasional Bhd but Yoshimura declined to elaborate on the value.
Meanwhile, Hirota said the Hitachi group will commemorate its 100th anniversary this year with the HYLI Alumni Forum in Singapore in mid-July.
The forum will bring together about 100 alumni from the past 14 years of its HYLI, a community relations programme to groom future leaders.
Since its inception in 1996, the HYLI programme has groomed 224 young leaders in Asia, including 36 in Malaysia.
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