Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate’s 2nd Contract Signed with Thai Okawa

Bangkok, 26 March 2007: Hemaraj Land And Development Plc, has signed the 2nd contract of its newly developed industrial estate, Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (Hemaraj ESIE), with Thai Okawa. The latter has purchased 40 rai of land for its upcoming auto parts plant.

Thai Okawa manufactures brake hose end fittings and stud bolts for automotive assembly in Thailand and for export to many countries around the world including America, Canada, Great Britain and Japan. The company will be building a 8,500 sq.m. factory that has the capacity to produce 100 million pieces per year. The plant is scheduled to begin operating in April 2009.

The new land purchase is the result of Thai Okawa’s decision to expand and relocate from Patumthani. Thai Okawa’s reasons for the relocation were to be nearer to Laem Chabang Deep Sea Port for export purposes and to be located in an automotive cluster for better supply chain access.

Hemaraj ESIE, is a new industrial estate development adjacent to Hemaraj’s flagship industrial estate, Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (Rayong) or ESIE. ESIE has been known as a major auto cluster in Thailand with clients including GM, Ford, Mazda and 114 auto part manufacturers. Similar to its predecessor, Hemaraj ESIE has been positioned as Detroit of the East II. Out of 8,000 rai area in total, the first phase of 2,000 rai including general industrial zone and customs free zone with high quality infrastructure is now ready for sale.

“We are very excited to have Thai Okawa joining our family at Hemaraj ESIE,” said Mr. David Nardone, President and CEO of Hemaraj. “Being a premium auto parts manufacturer and supplier and choosing to relocate to Hemaraj ESIE only strengthens the positioning of the new industrial estate as the Detroit of the East ,II. Apart from industrial land, Hemaraj’s new customers in all its industrial estates will benefit from our total solutions in services, starting from coordination on paper work, engineering, recruitment all the way to grounds keeping.”

Speaking on the occasion of signing the contract with Hemaraj, Mr. Katsuyoshi Okawa, President of Okawa Screw Manufacturing Co., Ltd., said: “We chose Hemaraj because they are able to show their potential as an excellent business partner to us. We appreciate the professional consultancy services from their customer development executives, high-quality infrastructure, total solutions services and last but not least, great location with an existing major automotive supply chain of over 100 parts manufacturers.”

About Hemaraj
Founded in 1988, Hemaraj Land And Development Public Company Limited is Thailand’s leading developer of industrial estates consisting of 6 industrial estates: Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (Rayong); Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate; Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate (Map Ta Phut); Hemaraj Chonburi Industrial Estate; Rayong Industrial Land; and S I L Industrial Land (Saraburi). These estates represent 32,000 rai (13,000 acres) under development, industrial clusters for petrochemical automotive and other industries, approximately 335 customers including 114 automotive customers, providing direct employment for 50,000 people and a customer investment estimated at US$ 11.5 billion.