Eng Teknoloji's executive director and chairman Dato Alfred Teh says the Hong Kong partnership has created a platform to the Chinese mainland and to global markets

Today, Penang-based Eng Teknologi Holdings Bhd, and its Hong Kong partner Seasons Associated Limited, has set up a factory in Dongguan manufacturing precision engineering components. Using the Hong Kong platform, it has become a major global player, counting some Fortune 500 companies as its clients.

Eng Teknologi's executive chairman and CEO, Dato Alfred Teh, said: "Our decision to enter the mainland was customer and market driven. We needed to venture into China otherwise we would have remained a small company with no growth potential. At the same time, I have seen too many failures among Malaysian companies going alone into the mainland. A more successful business model is to go through Hong Kong and team up with a Hong Kong partner. It's a winning formula as Hong Kong companies have the experience and knowledge of operating in the Pearl River Delta."

Successful business model

From year one, the Malaysian-Hong Kong partnership has been successful. "I'm very pleased with the investment and tremendous growth. Hong Kong generates between 30-40 per cent of our total earnings now," said Dato Teh.

The Hong Kong staff supervises the 100,000 square feet factory in Dongguan which has about 1800 workers. About 70 per cent of Eng Teknologi's business is dedicated to the manufacture of hard disk drive and tape drive storage components but two years ago the company diversified into the manufacture of industrial components used for water heater and gas. 

"More industrial product companies from the US are coming to Asia to outsource manufacturing products so that is why we're expanding our business on a more balanced portfolio and aggressively focusing on industrial products. We could tap their sourcing needs and act as their risk mitigator as we have sourcing in different countries," said Dato Teh. Besides the mainland, the company has manufacturing facilities in the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.

Dato Teh said that to get an international perspective and be a truly global player, he is considering a secondary listing in Hong Kong as "Hong Kong in terms of capital flows is the freest in the world."

Ultimately, Dato Teh said that his analogy in respective industry positioning is to put Eng Teknologi on the same platform as one of Hong Kong's oldest and most successful supply chain management conglomerate, Li & Fung.

"I think we can get there in three years if we focus on the growing market and further team up with good potential partners," he said.
 
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