Cargotec, the world's leading provider of cargo handling solutions, will establish a global competence center for container terminals development in Singapore, the company said in a press release on June 1.

The move will further strengthen its ability to provide total solutions for its container terminal customers in the whole Asia-Pacific region, the company said.

"Singapore is one of the world's largest ports, and it offers a unique view to customer trends, requirements and future needs for research, development and engineering purposes. Our strong presence in Singapore will further enhance our possibilities to develop more customer-driven solutions for future needs," says Mikael M. Kinen, president and CEO of Cargotec.

The Finland-based Cargotec has been in Singapore for more than 30 years, where it employs approximately 450 people representing the company's brands Hiab, Kalmar, MacGregor and Bromma.

The Asia-Pacific region has been identified as one of the company's growth areas, accounting for 40 percent of the total sales of 2.6 billion euros ($3.38 billion) in 2010.

Cargotec's Asian production units are located in China, India, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.