Matsushita to pump new investment into Singapore
SINGAPORE, April 8 Kyodo Japanese electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Thursday it will make new investments worth 450 million Singapore dollars (260 million U.S. dollars) in Singapore in the next three years. Yoichi Morishita, president of Matsushita Electric, made the announcement at the 25th anniversary celebrations of Asia Matsushita Electric (S) Pte., which provides sales and logistical support for operations in the region. Morishita said the firm is prepared to invest in Singapore amid the Asian economic crunch because it is ”convinced that Singapore will see economic recovery and return to the path of vigorous growth in a short period of time.” One of the Matsushita subsidiaries here, Matsushita Electronics (S) Pte., will invest 100 million Singapore dollars to make Panasonic mini-component DVD players, mini-disk players and optical pickup devices for the equipment. Matsushita is shifting the production of mini-disk players and optical pickup devices from Japan to Singapore. In addition, Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries Singapore will invest 250 million Singapore dollars to expand its capacity for producing hard disk drives to meet a 20% expected increase in global demand. He also projected a ”slight increase” in sales and profits for Matsushita Electric in fiscal 1999 compared with the projected figure for the previous year. Singapore’s Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was the guest of honor at the celebrations. Singapore is one of Matsushita’s major operating centers outside Japan, accounting for one-fifth of its total overseas production. The Matsushita group in Singapore has an annual turnover of about 5 billion Singapore dollars and employs about 12,900 workers.
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