US semiconductor company SigmaTel Inc. announced the opening of its engineering center in Hong Kong Tuesday.

The semiconductor company's new facility will focus on design support and provide SigmaTel's Asian-based customers with a regional point of contact for product development, according to a government press release Wednesday.

Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong John Rutherford welcomed Wednesday the company's investment in Hong Kong.

He said, "we are delighted to see another Texas-based high-technology company setting up in Hong Kong. For many years, Hong Kong has been important in the development of the electronics industry by offering versatile and experienced talent and advancedinfrastructure. The addition of SigmaTel will certainly further strengthen Hong Kong's position as an Asian hub for the industry."

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, SigmaTel focuses on designing, developing and marketing mixed-signal ICs for portable and consumer audio applications.

President and CEO of SigmaTel Ron Edgerton said that the new center in Hong Kong will play a strategically important role for the company. The locally staffed engineering center began operations on November 1 to serve SigmaTel customers throughout the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Edgerton said Asia accounts for over 90 percent of the company's sales. Extended support to these customers and to their extensive sales distribution channels has become an important partof SigmaTel's growth strategies.

He said, "with the fast-growing consumer electronics markets inAsia, there has been an increasing demand for system-level solutions that enable manufacturers to rapidly introduce and offerelectronic products."

"Given Hong Kong's geographical location at the center of Asia,we can enjoy access to the major markets in the region -- especially the North Asian market where most of our key customers are," said Edgerton".

A latest survey released in mid-October showed that the number of regional headquarters and regional offices in Hong Kong reachedall-time highs this year. As on June 1, there were 1,098 regional headquarters and 2,511 regional offices in Hong Kong of companies incorporated outside Hong Kong.

Source: Xinhua