On 17^th January 2013, Bridgestone Asia Pacific Pte.,Ltd (BSAP), wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, today announced plans to establish a New Technical Center in Thailand. The total investment for this project is approximately 3.7 billion Japanese yen, and business operations will begin in July 2013.

The functions of Tire development, Tire production technology and Quality management for Asia Pacific region, previously carried out at the technical center in Japan, will be gradually shifted to the new technical center. With this shift, Bridgestone intends to further enhance these functions and establish a framework for research and development that will be able to reflect information from the markets timely. As markets in the Asian region continue to grow and diversify rapidly, Bridgestone believes that by strengthening its technical support in the region, it will be able to respond to its customers’ needs more speedily by raising its operational level in Asian plants in terms of Safety, Environment, Quality and Delivery.

As a next step, the Bridgestone Group plans to increase its presence in the Asia Pacific region through enhancing research and development, expanding its sales network, and increasing tire production capacity in Asia, hence leading to the realization of the Bridgestone Group’s company mission – “Serving Society with Superior Quality”.
 
The following is a summary of the new technical center.
1. Company name: Bridgestone Asia Pacific Technical Center Co., Ltd
2. Location: Suburb of Bangkok, Thailand
3. Planned schedule of establishment: March 2013
4. Capital: Approximately 2.8 billion Japanese yen
5. Total investment: Approximately 3.7 billion Japanese yen
6. Representative: Masajiro Fujiwara
7. Equity ownership: Wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.
8. Number of employees: Approximately 100 (planned for 2015)
9. Major operations: Tire development, Production technology, Quality management, Procurement
 
About Bridgestone Corporation:

Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. In addition to tires for use in a wide variety of applications, it also manufactures a broad range of diversified products, which include industrial rubber and chemical products and sporting goods. Its products are sold in over 150 nation and territories around the world.

In the Asia Pacific region, Bridgestone locates its regional headquarters in Singapore, overseeing the operations of tire production and sales facilities, as well as supplying its products across more than 25 over countries in the region. Bridgestone Asia Pacific plays a key role in facilitating this large and growing market as it contributes significantly to the entire Bridgestone Group

In Vietnam, Bridgestone was founded on March 12th 2010 with its head office located in Ho Chi Minh City and representative office in Hanoi. The goal of Bridgestone Vietnam is to be become a state-of-the-art company that will provide the best solution for customers, bringing benefits to both the dealers, as well as end-users, while keeping in mind Bridgestone Group’s common mission of “Serving Society with Superior Quality”, set by Bridgestone Founder Mr. Shojiro Ishibashi