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JOHOR BARU: Howco Group, a leading global distributor of equipment to the oil and gas industry, will expand into the Southeast Asian market with a new manufacturing facility in Iskandar Malaysia in Johor.
The new US$20 million facility (RM63 million) with 80,000 sq ft of manufacturing space will be built within the Setia Business Park, an industrial park being developed by S P Setia Bhd, said Howco CEO John Ferguson.
“We believe this will be a one-of-a-kind facility and one of the most advanced in this part of the world. Howco Malaysia will become an important part of the Howco global supply chain serving our OEM customers into this dynamic region,” he told reporters yesterday.
The manufacturing facility will open in 2015 and employ over 30 local staff, he said.
Earlier, Ferguson and Datuk Voon Tin Yow, S P Setia Bhd group COO, signed the sale and purchase agreement for the purchase of a detached factory on 1.9ha of land.
Also present at the ceremony was Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) director for Singapore, K Sukomaran.
Ferguson said the factory will be custom-designed to Howco’s requirements and offer a quick turnaround time as well as lean, cost-effective flow and increased space to hold high value materials.
Howco Malaysia will be part of Malaysia’s supply chain in the oil and gas industry with the plan to serve the domestic market, Singapore, Southeast Asia, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and beyond, he said.
Voon said, the RM600 million business park encompassing 104ha has an 80% occupancy and expects the remaining 20% acreage to be filled by year-end. — Bernama
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 20, 2013.
