Haier, China's largest home appliance-maker, named its Pakistan JV its best partnership in 2006 at the firm's global executives conference.

Haier entered Pakistan with an initial investment of about US$35 million to create a joint venture, called Haier Pakistan, with Ruba General Trading Company.

"We entered the market with a commitment to provide good products, a vast dealer network and good after-sales service throughout the country," said Yu Zida, vice-president of Haier.

The Haier Pakistan plant is expected to produce 900,000 pieces of household appliances per year, with plans to export to the Middle East and Asia.

The products made by the plant include refrigerators, air-conditioners, deep freezers, washing machines, microwave ovens and small appliances like dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, television sets and mobile phones.

To protect its brands in international markets such as Pakistan, the company has done "a lot of work on trademark registration," Yu said.

Haier invests more than 60 million yuan (US$7.6 million) in trademark registration and patent applications annually, he said.

The company has applied for trademarks in over 130 countries.

"As Haier has developed into one of the top white goods maker in the world, we also started to stress setting standards in the industry," Yu said.

Haier is the only company to own two international standards in the world household appliance industry. It has taken part in the formation of 86 standards in China's household appliance sector.

Incorporated in 1984, Haier now manufactures a wide range of consumer appliances in 86 categories with 13,000 specifications and exports products to more than 160 countries.

The global revenue of Haier for 2005 was 103.4 billion yuan (US$13.08 billion). Haier Electronics Group Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Haier Group, is listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Qingdao Haier Co Ltd, also a Haier subsidiary, is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Haier was awarded the title of "China's Most Admired Company" for 2006 this November, based on the findings of a survey conducted by Fortune China and the Chinese firm Hay Group.

(China Daily November 25, 2006)