SAFC Hitech, a focus area
within SAFC, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich Group, announced that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gyeonggi Province of South Korea has been signed.
SAFC, another considerable multinational to invest in Asia?
The MoU signals the Company's intentions of exploring investment opportunities that may result in a facility being built in the province for the supply and manufacture of electronic materials. The MoU was signed by SAFC Hitech President Barry Leese and Moon-Soo Kim,
Governor of Gyeonggi Province, in a ceremony held in New York City, New York, on November 2, 2007. The MoU is part of an ongoing program of regional investment by Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. In September 2007, the Company announced its intent to invest in a facility at the Wuxi-New District Park (WND) located northwest of Shanghai, China.
Commenting on the possible expansion of SAFC Hitech's global presence into South Korea, Leese said, "We see South Korea as an important market for SAFC Hitech, with a very strong domestic electronics business that represents an excellent opportunity for us to supply electronic chemicals for use in the semiconductor market. Gyeonggi Province, in particular, has been extremely proactive and supportive of our intentions.
We look forward to exploring a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the region". SAFC President Frank Wicks added, "As part of the strategic plan SAFC laid out in 2005, we expect to increase our investment in a number of regions, including the Asia-Pacific markets. By exploring investment avenues with South Korea, we have the opportunity to accelerate sales growth in the
Asia-Pacific region while, at the same time, increasing our capacity and allowing us to better serve our local and global SAFC Hitech customer base".
About SAFC:
SAFC(R) is the custom manufacturing and services group within
Sigma-Aldrich that focuses on products and services for high technology
applications, cell culture products and services for biopharmaceutical
manufacturing, biochemical production and the manufacturing of complex, multi-step organic synthesis of APIs and key intermediates. SAFC has manufacturing facilities around the world dedicated to providing manufacturing
services for companies requiring a reliable partner to produce their custom manufactured materials. SAFC has four focus areas -SAFC Pharma(TM), SAFC
Supply Solutions(R), SAFC Biosciences(TM), and SAFC Hitech(TM)- and had
annual sales of nearly $500 million in 2006. SAFC is one of the world's 10 largest fine chemical businesses. For more information about SAFC,
SAFC Hitech provides a unique chemistry service translating application
understanding into performance materials worldwide.
Through collaborative partnerships and an integrated approach from research and development, process
development and scale up to commercial manufacturing, SAFC Hitech invests in
innovation and manufacturing enabling current and future technology needs.
Further information can be found at http://www.safchitech.com
About Sigma-Aldrich:
Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Our
biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific and
genomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of
disease and as key components in pharmaceutical and other high technology
manufacturing. We have customers in life science companies, university and
government institutions, hospitals and in industry. Over one million
scientists and technologists use our products. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 36
countries and has 7,800 employees providing excellent service worldwide. We
are committed to accelerating Customers' success through leadership in Life
Science, High Technology and Service. For more information about
Sigma-Aldrich, please visit our award-winning web site at
http://www.sigma-aldrich.com.
