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Farm equipment R&D also needed
PHUSADEE ARUNMAS
The farm equipment maker Siam Kubota has outlined an ambitious plan to become the production hub for agricultural machinery development in Asean.''Kubota is now expanding to overseas markets by exporting diesel engines, walk-behind tractors and other machinery to new markets including Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and India,'' said Veerachai Chaochankit, president of The Siam Kubota Industry.
''We believe our ambitious plan to become the production hub for agricultural machinery development in the Southeast Asian region is achievable in the foreseeable future.''
He did not detail a timeframe but said Siam Kubota already had distribution and service offices in place in Cambodia, Vietnam and India to assure customers of dependable after-sales service.
The company generated exports valued at 1.7 billion baht last year, and it expects the figure to rise significantly by 60% this year.
According to Mr Veerachai, export sales are expected to represent up to 10-15% of the company's total revenue next year.
Driven by growing demand for agricultural products and rising oil prices, Siam Kubota, which marked its 30th anniversary this month, expects to see its sales increase by 42% to 20 billion baht, outperforming the average growth rate of 10-20% in the previous years.
Most of its sales come from tractors.
Export sales prospects are expected to be driven by a new affiliated company, Siam Kubota Tractor Co, which was founded last year to develop advanced agricultural machinery to serve the increasing needs of farmers in Thailand and throughout Asean.
Siam Kubota Tractor is the first tractor producing plant outside Japan that manufactures products for both domestic and export sales. The new company is set to begin production in March 2009, with a capacity of 25,000 to 30,000 tractors per year.
According to Mr Veerachai, the Thai venture is currently encouraging Kubota Corp in Japan to invest in establishing a research and development centre for agricultural machinery in Thailand.
The company sees R&D as necessary for Thailand, given that the country is the world's biggest exporter of rice and rubber, and has a big presence in oil palm, maize, tapioca and sugar.
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