Japan's Toshiba to Make Thailand Its High-Tech Production Base.

Byline: Nareerat Wiriyapong

Jul. 7--Toshiba Corp of Japan plans to turn Thailand into its production base for higher-technology home appliances, a move that will help double its exports from the country within three years.

Takashi Kimura, head of the Toshiba group in Thailand, said the company would spend "quite a big amount" of money to relocate the facilities from Japan to Thailand.

The board of Toshiba in Japan is expected to endorse the project in a few months and relocating production of refrigerators, washing machines and display devices will take place during the next five years, he said.

Thailand currently is Toshiba's production base for low-end appliances as well its largest manufacturing base outside Japan. Toshiba has other appliance plants in Indonesia and Malaysia, a personal computer plant in the Philippines and a factory in China that produces a wide range of appliances only for the domestic market.

"While the Thai market is big, we have made much more investments here (than in other countries) for exports," Mr Kimura said.

With 19 subsidiaries, Toshiba is the largest electrical and electronic firm in Thailand, posting total revenue of 40 billion baht in the last fiscal year ending in March, of which 70 percent came from exports.