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SINGAPORE, Oct. 22, l997 — United States-based Eastman Chemical Company today officially opened a S1.4 million technical service center in Singapore to assist Asia Pacific customers in developing new products.

The technical center, located at Singapore's Alexandra Technopark, will target new applications for Eastman materials used in coatings and paint formulations, food ingredients, specialty plastics and processing aids for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) applications such as toys, shoes, wallpaper and synthetic leather.

Dr. Dante Rutstrom, Eastman's director of technology for Asia Pacific, said the technical center reinforces Eastman's commitment to the region.

“All of the plaints that Eastman has in North America are now in Asia Pacific,” he said, citing the company's sales, marketing and customer service operations at its regional headquarters in Singapore and manufacturing facilities under construction in Singapore and Kuantan, Malaysia.

With a wide array of equipment, Dr. Rutstrom said the technical center's highly trained, multilingual staff of 10 people provides customers the latest testing methods for coatings, inks and resins; polymers; and food.

In addition to Singapore, Eastman operates a technical center in Osaka, Japan, and has technical service representatives based at offices in Shanghai, China, and Taipei, Taiwan.

Speaking at ceremonies marking the opening of the Singapore technical center, Eastman's vice president of polymers technology Dr. Gregory Nelson said, “About 24 percent of Eastman's business comes from new or improved products introduced in the past five years.” Eastman spent USS184 million on research and development in 1996 - nearly 4 percent of the company's sales of USS4.8 billion.

Dr. Nelson said that Eastman views technical service “as a strong driver in generating new revenue and reducing innovation cycle time for Eastean and its customers.” He said the company's targets of 15 to 20 percent annual growth in Asia Pacific over the next several years “give a strong indication of the value we expect to Rain from our increased efforts in technical service and new manufacturing capabilities in the region.” Eastman's 1996 sales in Asia Pacific were USS548 million.

Eastman is building a 30,000-tonne per year copolyester plastics plant near Kuantan that will be on-stream first quarter 1998 — mayor complex of oxo chemicals and derivatives plants is now under construction on Pulau Sakra, an island Just off the Singapore mainland, and will be onstrea first quarter 1999. The Singapore technical center supports many of the products that will be manufactured at these plants.

Contact: Gaylon White
(65) 831-3270

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