Honeywell launches Asean headquarters in Malaysia

By Digital News Asia October 3, 2017

First MNC to join Malaysia’s new Principal Hub initiative, introduced by MIDA
Created over 120 high-value jobs, the majority of which are staffed by local talent

Honeywell ASEAN president Briand Greer at the launch of its Asean regional HQ in KL with Mustapa Mohamad, MITI Minister.

HONEYWELL, a Fortune 100 diversified global technology and manufacturing company, strengthens its presence in Southeast Asia by establishing a new Asean regional headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Honeywell Asean president Briand Greer said: “We believe the Asean region offers tremendous growth potential due to its favourable demographics and alignment with Honeywell’s portfolio and global macro trends such as the growing middle class, urbanisation, green and efficient energy, safety and security, and digitisation.

“We are strongly committed to the region. We have been here for more than 30 years, but this is a new chapter for Honeywell. We are excited to partner with the Malaysian and other regional governments and businesses to hire and develop local talent and bring our global resources and vision to these markets.

“Malaysia has been a great partner thus far, and we are very happy with our decision to locate our Asean headquarters here.”

With a dynamic, tech-savvy population of 650 million people and a fast-growing mid-segment, Asean is on track to be the world’s fourth-largest economy by the year 2050. Countries within Asia Pacific will also lead market growth in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) arena, which is expected to be worth US$54 billion by 2020.

The new Asean regional headquarters will support Honeywell’s businesses across the region by providing leadership, local and timely decision-making and the capability to deliver innovative, specific solutions to industries including aerospace, oil and gas, automation and process controls, home and building solutions, industrial safety, mobile business productivity and automated warehouse operations.

Honeywell is the first multinational company to have joined Malaysia’s new Principal Hub initiative, introduced by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) in 2015. Honeywell has invested more than US$500 million and created more than 120 high-value jobs, the majority of which are staffed by local talent.

The new, progressively designed Asean regional headquarters will help the company further attract and develop the best talent to drive the company’s broad software-industrial offerings across the region, ensuring key customers and stakeholders benefit from Honeywell’s connected products and solutions.

Honeywell currently has a workforce of 1,500 in Malaysia, with more than 4,000 employees across the region, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and the Philippines.

This includes six regional and global engineering, manufacturing, and repair and service sites.

Congratulating Honeywell at the official launch ceremony held on Oct 2, Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry, said: “Malaysia is heartened that Honeywell has chosen the country as the home for its Asean regional headquarters. Its decision is testimony to our value proposition as a trusted hub, where companies can access global talent and build strategic capabilities to spearhead their growth in the region.”

Honeywell’s new Asean regional headquarters, totalling 74,000 square feet, is currently home to over 400 employees from four strategic business groups – Aerospace; Home and Building Technologies; Safety and Productivity Solutions; and Performance Materials and Technologies.

Key leadership and expertise have already started transitioning into the country, with more than 50 regional roles moving to Malaysia in the last year alone.

Equipped with Honeywell’s automated building solutions, the Asean regional headquarters features the latest in workplace design, which encourages workforce flexibility and collaboration.

Greer commented further: “Malaysia and the broader Asean region is a very important market for Honeywell. As we evolve into a software-industrial multinational-company, with a local mindset focused on industry 4.0 connected technologies across our vast portfolio, we will continue to place greater emphasis on resources and investment here and across Asean.”

The headquarters includes a dedicated showcase area that demonstrates Honeywell’s best-in-class software-industrial products and offerings in Connected Transportation, Connected Worker, Connected Homes and Buildings and Connected Industrial.

About 60% of Honeywell’s global growth over the next five years will be connected to software, and to support this growth, the company will continue making smart investments in software development capabilities, facilities and talent.