US computer maker Dell Inc plans to extend its business in India but would use Malaysia as the hub for capturing the Asian market.
"Malaysia will be our hub for the south and East Asian market, while the call centre is India will cater to other parts of the world. We have also announced a new factory in Chennai," Kevin Rollins, president and CEO, Dell said.
Launching the company's first global business centre outside the United States to provide 24-hour engineering and technology support to its branches worldwide in Kuala Lumpur, Rollins said, "Malaysia played an integral part of its global initiative".
He said the centre was based in Malaysia and not in China or India because of its of its skilled work force, conducive business environment, robust infrastructure
and the government's commitment to the information technology industry.
In its bid to make Malaysia an IT hub, the government is going all out to extend all possible help to leading IT companies to set up their offices and centres here. Rollins opened the 200,000 sq feet centre in Malaysia's high tech city called Cyberjaya.
"The centre will mostly provide internal support to Dell offices in countries around the world. Malaysia plays an integral part in our global initiative. We can think of no better partner than Malaysia to establish our first global business centre outside the US," Rollins said.
Dell has operated a manufacturing operation in the northern city of Penang since 1995, producing notebooks, desktop computers, servers and storage systems.