BANGKOK (Nikkei)–Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO) is set to produce 1 million units each of refrigerators and washing machines a year at its two factories in Thailand by 2005, up 25% each from such output in 2003, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports in its Sunday edition.
The move is intended to meet growing demand mainly in Asia, company sources said.
Toshiba will spend about 1 billion baht ($1=THB39.415) to build new production lines at the plants, possibly by the end of the year.
The company will also hire an additional 1,000 employees at the plants, which produced 800,000 units each of refrigerators and washing machines last year.
The increased output will be exported not only to neighboring Southeast Asian markets, but also to Australia and the Middle East.