The first Japanese firm to debut exclusively in Singapore, Xyec Holdings Co, plans to expand its information technology expertise to Southeast Asia through local purchases and engagement of local talent.

The company had planned to raise a few million dollars through an initial public offering and commenct trading on the Catalist board in Singapore. This index would be for smaller enterprises and the planned listing was to be made on September 18. This was confirmed by its CEO Manabu Kobayashi. 

The Tokyo, Japan based Xyec is in discussion with at least two Singaporean firms in the information technology market to see if there are deals that can be made. Kobayashi did not elanborate further as the discussions were private.

Xyec provides engineering and information technology services to its clients, which include a Toyota Motor Corp. It chose Singapore over Japan due mainy to the growth potential of Southeast Asia compared to Japan's declining demand and population decline. The company is targetting sales growth above 50% or a value of JPY10 billion or USD100 million in the next couple of years. 

Kobayashi said, "We want to make Singapore the base of our Asean expansion. We want to increase our regional presence and capture good talent that we may not be able to get if we remained in Japan, given the size of the company."