Ryoji Ando, managing director of the Thai subsidiary, commented: “With the ASEAN Economic Community expected to launch this December, demands for power systems are expected to become more urgent in Thailand.” The subsidiary has plans to utilise their current assets to develop local power systems sales and related engineering services, as well as explore other promising fields in the growing Thai market.

Thailand is not a new market to the group; they entered the Thai market in 1964 and since then, they have established local affiliates to manufacture and sell a variety of technological equipment such as home appliances, automation systems and equipment for the automotive industry.

Today, Thailand accounts for a significant percentage of sales for the group in Asia excluding Japan—the figure for 2014 was approximately US$8.43 billion, which translated to about 30 percent.