UACJ Holds Opening Ceremony for New R&D Center in Thailand

UACJ Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & President: Miyuki Ishihara) held an opening ceremony on April 19, 2019 for R&D Center (Thailand), which was established in September 2018. Attendees included Dr. Kritsada Prapakorn, of Thailand's National Metal and Materials Technology Center, and Ms. Suwipa Wanasathop, of Thailand Science Park.

In his address at the opening ceremony, Yasuhiro Hosomi, head of R&D Center (Thailand) said, “I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all the people who cooperated in the establishment of the R&D center in Thailand. Developing the aluminum business globally is one of our major policies. Our objectives for establishing this R&D center in Thailand were threefold: to contribute to Thailand 4.0, to develop new technologies and products suited to Thailand's needs and environment, and to provide technological support to UACJ's affiliates in Thailand—particularly UACJ (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Thai people who have learned technologies at our R&D center in Japan will serve as the core of this center. Thailand Science Park, where this center is located, is home to numerous talented engineers and has the analytical facilities that are needed for research. Being stimulated by such people, we also aim to grow.”

By establishing this center, UACJ hopes to support bases in the ASEAN region by providing swift and accurate technical services, conduct R&D on new products and technologies that are suited to the local area and stimulate innovation through collaborative research on leading-edge technologies with universities and public-sector organizations, and understand local technology needs and market trends in order to create new businesses.

In March, UACJ renovated its core R&D center in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, which serves as the Company's R&D hub. In April 2018, we established R&D Center (North America). Through collaboration among the three centers, including R&D Center (Thailand), we will create a global structure for R&D on aluminum materials, for which global demand is expected to grow.

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