World Houseware in Malaysia move

WORLD Houseware Holdings will invest $31 million in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan to take advantage of the country's excess export quotas to American and European countries.

Owing to the difficulty in obtaining quotas for exports in China, the group decided to relocate part of its operations to Malaysia.

According to World Houseware chairman Lee Tat-hing, the construction of its manufacturing plant was progressing smoothly and it was expected that operations would begin within the current financial year.

''The new factory is intended for the manufacture of our fabric products to make use of Malaysia's export quotas to America and European countries,'' said Mr Lee.

While China had the added advantage of lower labour costs, the quota situation was bad, he said.

''Even though the Chinese Government may want to help, it is constrained by the limited supply of quotas. In Malaysia, on the other hand, the country has a leftover of between 20 and 30 per cent of its quotas,'' he said.