France-based Schneider Electric is investing 200 million baht in Thailand to transfer production of electrical engineering products and make the kingdom its export centre.

The new investment has been made even though the Thai unit expects total revenue to be flat this year at 4.7 billion baht including exports, says Manish Pant, Schneider's country director for Thailand and Laos.

"As governments in Thailand and all over the world have introduced stimulus packages to revive the economy, we expect to see some recovery next year in Thailand and the ASEAN region," Mr Pant said.

"With our ongoing investment, we will be ready with cost-competitive production and close to customers when the economy picks up."

Schneider (Thailand) is expanding its manufacturing plant in Bang Poo, Samut Prakan, which has made the Square D circuit breaker for 20 years.

This year's investment follows 200 million baht spent last year for constructing a new building.

The expansion is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. The company hopes that 40% of the Thai plant's total output will be exported.

Export destinations include the Middle East, India, China and Australia. Export revenue is expected to account for 700 million baht this year, on par with 2008.

Mr Pant said Schneider has accepted that its revenue in Thailand would be equal to last year at best because of the downturn.

"The market was tough this year but we managed to meet our forecast in the first half. Now we are trying to make the same 4 billion baht we made last year," he said.

Schneider Electric has been in Thailand for 33 years and employs 700 people. Of the total, 400 work on production lines and it aims to increase manufacturing staff by 10% for the expansion, Mr Pant said.

Listed in Paris, Schneider is the world's leader in energy management. The company has operations in 106 countries with total revenue of 18.3 billion euros last year, of which 19% is generated from the Asia-Pacific region.

In addition to electrical mechanical products, Schneider (Thailand) has been stepping up its presence in the energy management business.

The French company is among the 22 energy service companies in Thailand, most of which are local operators.