Business

Monday March 1, 2010

Local unit set to become Coway South-East Asian hub

By Elizabeth Chong


YONGPYONG: Woongjin Coway (M) Sdn Bhd looks set to become the South-East Asian hub for Woongjin Coway Co Ltd after impressing its parent company with its strong performance in a short span of barely four years.

Asked what the hub entailed, managing director James Park Jae Young said it would include a factory to manufacture or assemble the group’s range of water purifiers, air purifiers and bidet products to help cut transportation costs.

»We may even set up a small research and development centre in Kuala Lumpur« COWAY MD PARK JAE YOUNG

“We may even set up a small research and development (R&D) centre in Kuala Lumpur. However, we have to see the market growth first,” he said.

At present, products meant for the Malaysian market are adapted and “localised” after extensive tests at Woongjin Coway’s R&D centre at Seoul National University.

Once the Malaysian operations had reached a target quantity and expanded to other countries in the region, a R&D centre in Malaysia might be possible, Park said, adding that this could take three to four years.

With monthly sales averaging 2,000 units, its Malaysian unit is the group’s top performing overseas branch with revenue hitting RM40mil last year compared with RM23mil in 2008.

Park said Coway Malaysia, which currently has 21,000 rental customers, aimed to expand its customer base to 100,000 by end of 2011.

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