“This year Toyoko Kagaku opened an office in Hanoi, stationing its own people there. Along with this, the company also established a branch in Shanghai called the Toyoko Gas Equipments (Shanghai) Installation which will engage in the installation of piping and all types of gas related equipment. In the South East Asia too, where they are in the midst of expanding sales, they have obtained order for gas related equipment and piping installation. All of these activities clear indicate the intent of the company regarding its overseas business.

According to Masuhiro Sato, Manager of the Overseas Business Department, the company is going ahead with expansion of its overseas deployment under the policy of President Hirohisa Kato, calling for the opening up of new business in new regions. Up to now as well, chiefly to support NEC, the company has moved into San Francisco, as well as into Shanghai and Singapore. Since 2002, the company was of the opinion that the Total Gas Management (TGM) program it had established in China could be used effectively on a global basis. The company therefore decided not to go only after Japanese customers but also to move actively into the global market with this business.

Examples of the greatest success it has had so far are to be found in Shanghai. In Shanghai right now the company has been commissioned gas and gas related management at 4 plants in the semiconductor, liquid crystal display, and solar cell sectors. Toyoko Gas Equipments (Shanghai), established in 2002, is engaged in the local manufacture of gas cabinets, gas boxes, and gas supply units, with the number of employees having reached 50.

Recently Toyoko Kagaku has been expanding sales promotion in the South East Asia where manufacturing companies including car producers have moved into and secondary and tertiary component producers are actively making capital investment. The company also feels that an electronics industry will also emerge in some area and is collecting information there. Not only electronics related business in which it excels, the company is also marketing LNG facilities, gas generators, and gas recovery systems.

As Sato put it, “Trial and error on our part is still going on overseas. There are many risks existing in overseas business such as religion, national character, and ethics of business. However, we will be boldly going into the overseas market irrespective of country or region, pushing sales based on the good quality of Japanese products and of our services.””