Fascinating Malaysia – A Strategic Choice for Haskell to Invest

Established in 1965 in the United States (US), Haskell is a fully integrated design, engineering and construction services firm headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. Today, Haskell operates globally with more than 24 client-driven offices throughout the US, Mexico and Asia, providing a wide range of services in design and construction for various customers. The services provided ranged from business case analysis and master planning; systems analytics and modelling; architecture, all disciplines of engineering, project management, specialised engineering (process, packaging, material handling, clean in place or known as CIP systems); to sustainable design and virtual reality/augmented reality models. Haskell’s multinational clients include the industry giants such as PepsiCo, Safran, Starbucks, Spirit AeroSystems, Procter and Gamble, as well as many Government entities.

Although Haskell has been working on projects in Southeast Asia since 2007, the company only established a permanent regional hub in 2014, starting with offices in Singapore and Malaysia before expanding to the Philippines, Vietnam and China in the recent years.

Why Malaysia?

“I first fell in love with Malaysia on a holiday trip in early 2000s, when I got to experience the hospitality of the people and the sophistication of Kuala Lumpur. It was a happy coincidence that many years later my career brought me back to the region. Haskell’s establishment in Malaysia began in 2015, when a long-term client requested for our help with their project in the country,” says Jonathan Toke, Vice-President of Haskell
Asia Pacific (APAC).

Prior to the decision of establishing the regional headquarters in Malaysia for Haskell in APAC, Toke assessed several countries in the region on multiple facets, including its talent pool and level of infrastructure.

“Malaysia became a clear choice as our regional headquarters and our initial regional design centre based on the availability and capability of local technical talent, cultural affinity with global and regional customers and projects, good transportation and communication links to the other countries we are expected to serve, and sufficiently well-developed infrastructure for our team to be globally competitive. Having Malaysia as our regional headquarters includes being able to work easily in different time zones with our US counterparts, allowing for a shorter delivery schedule on projects as we work on a 24-hour cycle. Now that we have been operating for several years, it is gratifying to see that our initial assumptions were correct. We have a dynamic, young pool of talents that perform at the highest levels of quality and precision in the industry.” says Toke.

The rapid growth of supportive local talents and partnering associations

Having completed over 50 projects covering a wide range of scope from design services to a full Engineering Procurement-Construction (EPC)/Design-Build services since opening their doors six years ago, Haskell is known for their quality and excellence in all their project deliveries.

Internationally, the company has performed work amounting to USD160 million outside of the US, about 50 per cent of which is contributed by their APAC offices. Since their establishment, Toke gave the utmost recognition to the local talent pool Haskell has recruited for their Malaysia office for their contribution to the steady growth of the company in the region.

“We started with one mechanical engineer and one construction manager”, says Toke, reflecting on Haskell’s early days in Malaysia. “In just five (5) years, we have expanded our team by over 90 per cent and have established our own inhouse, multi-disciplinary engineering and construction team. Our growth has been heavily contributed by clients who believed in our capabilities and the level of quality that Haskell can deliver, but that is also because they have witnessed first-hand of our local team’s capability.”

“We also received great support from partnering organisations including the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM). With the continuous support from these organisations, we were able to seamlessly integrate ourselves into the Malaysian market and get to where we are today.” added Toke.

Following the commitment to deliver innovative solutions, Haskell has recently formalised a partnership with the Halal Development Corporation (HDC) to facilitate halal manufacturing growth in the region. The company is also looking at collaborating with a digital solutions provider to address the gap in Malaysia’s smart manufacturing landscape.

With a strong focus on providing quality and excellence services globally, the company has positioned itself as much more than just another EPC provider. Their expertise within the industries across various markets including food and beverage, aviation and aerospace, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, as well as consumer products extends to their ability to provide consulting services for their clients.

Moving forward, Haskell aims to continue bridging the gap between ideas and execution, as well as translating conceptual business plans to a more pragmatic and cost-effective solution. Haskell’s capability to deliver excellent and innovative results at every project phase is what sets them apart in the market.

Source: MIDA e-Newsletter January 2021