Beko Selects Thailand for ASEAN Manufacturing Hub
Turkish manufacturer Beko, which has grown to become Europe’s second-biggest selling home appliances brand, said that it has selected Thailand to be the location of its first Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) production facility.
The new facility, which is scheduled to begin operations by the end of 2015, is being built with an investment of US$100m. The company plans for the plant to produce more than 500,000 units of refrigerators annually within three years.
“We aim to replicate within the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) the phenomenal success of the Beko brand in Europe where we are the best-selling home appliance brand in the UK, the best-selling free-standing home appliance brand in France, as well as the fastest growing home appliance brand in Germany during the last five years,” said Levent Cakiroglu, global chief executive (CEO) of Arcelik AS, owner of the Beko brand.
“Having a regional production facility in Thailand that can quickly respond to regional market needs is the key to achieve our growth plans in the AEC. We will export 90% of our production, and expect to generate sales of around US$500m in the region within three years.”
Mustafa V. Koc, chairman of Koc Holding, which is the parent company of Arcelik AS, added: “Beko is an unfolding, global success story that has been a phenomenon in Europe thanks to our ability to understand local needs and reliably fulfill them through high quality products that are innovation driven.
“Delivering on that commitment requires a global organisation that is staffed with the highest calibre people, production facilities that are both flexible and state-of-the-art, and strong research and development [R&D] capabilities.
“Southeast Asia is fast becoming one of the world’s most important economic centres and we believe Thailand has strong potential to be a manufacturing hub of this region.”
He added that Thailand was selected as the regional production hub for Beko home appliances because of “the potential of the Thai economy, the existence of a strong network of supply industries, a geographically central location in the region, good infrastructure, and the promotional incentives offered by the board of investment.”