The company will be headed by Louis Teo as regional Sales Manager and will oversee general sales and service support as well as project co-ordination in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam. Existing distributors will continue to receive their supplies directly from the Robe factory in the Czech Republic, while S.E.A. will establish new dealers and distributors in territories not yet covered by Robe's current sales network. The main objectives of S.E.A. are to establish a stronger brand presence across South East Asia and to provide more immediate and comprehensive support to all Robe dealers and distributors and also to the increasing amount of projects in the region.

Louis Teo will work closely with Robe's International Sales Manager Harry von den Stemmen. "We've come a long way since the introduction of Robe as our proprietary brand", says von den Stemmen, "and we've enjoyed considerable success in spreading the Robe word across South East Asia. However, it is now time to improve the infrastructure and prepare for Robe's further expansion in the very near future. With the very specific requirements of projects becoming ever more common, this was a logical step to take. The upcoming 2005 exhibition season will see us ready to establish some new business relationships with dealers and professional users." Louis Teo adds, "This will help the reputation of the Robe trade mark in the region. We will be able to provide better service to the existing customers within the time zone, and we will establish new customers in the missing territories."

Robe's GM Josef Valchar is very satisfied: "2005 will be the year for Robe to become an industry standard. Singapore is an ideal hub for our activities, and it is only logical that we have to be directly present with all our identity in the area as a manufacturer."