After 29 years of growing its business in Hong Kong, computer services firm COL is moving to expand its operations across Asia - starting in a market it had previously not set its sights on, the Philippines.
COL, a subsidiary of the HK$100-billion Wharf/Wheelock Group, has opened a branch there to handle distribution of German printing-systems maker Oce's products.
'The Philippines was not high on our list of markets to expand into but an opportunity presented itself that met our criteria for building our business base,' said COL general manager Norris Hickerson.
COL's opportunity came in the wake of the recent decision by business automation products supplier Siemens-Nixdorf to scale down its operations in the Philippines, which involved giving up its distribution rights for Oce printing systems in the country.
Mr Hickerson said COL, which has had a decade-long relationship with Oce Printing Systems in Hong Kong, believed that moving into a distributorship role in the Philippines would support the operations of its existing customers in the country.
He said there was already a profitable base of Oce users there.
'COL has succeeded in Hong Kong . . . and we are using the same model in the Philippines, where we have the customer demand, skills base and quality partners such as Oce to provide high-volume printing solutions for a wide variety of clients,' Mr Hickerson said.
