Yesterday Garmin announced that as part of the brand's strategic plan to strengthen their presence in the region, Garmin will now be directly managing the sales and marketing of its consumer business devices in the Southeast Asia and India region.

It's not surprising that Singapore was selected as the regional headquarters for Garmin’s regional expansion because of the nation’s vibrant pro-business environment, political stability, centralised geography and strong infrastructure.

Newly appointed Managing Director for Garmin's South Asia/India Region since January 2017, Mr. Engelhard (Al) Sundoro said:

“As a company, we need to be an enduring brand that consistently innovates. In order to do that, it is essential for us to be closer to our customers to understand what they need. Even as a global brand, Garmin sees each market differently as the customer needs in each region is diverse. Outside of US, China and Taiwan, it is a natural step for the brand to strengthen our presence in South-east Asia with Singapore as our headquarters as consumers here tend to be early adopters of technology.”

Aiming to engineer quality wearables to complement the daily active lifestyles of users, Garmin recently announced its partnership with EZ-Link to launch a special version of its vívosmart HR activity tracker with built-in NFC contactless payment smarts.

Users can tap their fitness band to make payment for train and bus rides, cab rides and retail purchases in Singapore.

Since the early 1990s, Garmin products have been sold in Singapore through distributors and has been a favourite brand for runners in Singapore with its consumer products. They also introduced the first GPS running watch.

Featured Image: Garmin Ltd