(Third from left) InvestHK's Mark Michelson; the Consul-General of Germany in HK, Frank Burbach; Head of Asia Pacific and Managing Director of BMS, Dr Frank Rovekamp; the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Joseph WP Wong; and the Chief Administration Officer of the Board of Management at BMS, Prof Dr Gottfried Plumpe

Bayer MaterialScience AG, one of the world’s leading producers of polymers and high-performance plastics, announced the opening of its new regional Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong.

The company has combined the regional management functions of its business and service units in Asia-Pacific and of the former Regional Service Centre into Bayer MaterialScience Ltd. in Hong Kong. Through the new regional headquarters, Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) aims to strengthen communication and co-operation among all of its functional areas and achieve sustained improvements in efficiency.

The company's decision demonstrates its commitment to long-term development in the region and is a strong endorsement for Hong Kong as a location for managing regional operations.

The Head of Asia Pacific and Managing Director of BMS, Dr Frank Rovekamp, said: "We selected Hong Kong as our regional headquarters, as this city is excellently located near most of our main markets. Hong Kong also offers a great infrastructure as well as an open, cosmopolitan and pluralistic atmosphere."

"We and most of our customers operate in many places around the world. Our big production plants are designed to serve many surrounding countries. Since our customers rapidly exploit market opportunities in the whole region, it is natural for us to bring in a regional perspective of co-ordination and steering for our business. We therefore set up our service platform accordingly."
 
According to Dr Rovekamp, the Asian markets show a promising growth potential for Bayer MaterialScience. The founding of regional organisation in Hong Kong is one of several steps to take advantage of this potential.

The Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Joseph WP Wong, said the company's decision to establish a regional base in Hong Kong would strengthen the city's overall competitiveness. "Bayer MaterialScience is joining a vibrant German community with over 2,000 residents and 550 companies doing business in Hong Kong."

Dr Rovekamp also stressed that the company is implementing a strong investment policy for Asia. Apart from the expansion in Hong Kong, the company has committed to a US$1.8 billion investment programme for the integrated Caojin site near Shanghai, with the opening of at least one large-scale facility each year until 2009. This is the largest investment Bayer has ever made outside of Germany.

The BMS Board Member, Ian Paterson, emphasized the importance of the Asian region. "In the future, we expect to see continued, significant growth potential for the Asia Pacific region. Our new regional headquarters in Hong Kong will make a decisive contribution to allowing us to seize this market opportunity."

In 2004 Bayer MaterialScience, which employs 18,000 people at 40 production sites around the globe, posted total sales of EUR 8.6 billion and an operating result of EUR 641 million.

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