As a show of confidence in its web and sheetfed products - and the Australasian market - KBA, one of the biggest press manufacturers worldwide, is planning to set up a new subsidiary, KBA-Australia, in Sydney early next year. This will extend KBA´s existing sales and service network for the region, whose hubs are KBA Asia Pacific in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a number of bases in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou), where it has a strong market presence, and KBA (HK) in Hong Kong. In recent years KBA has steadily expanded its market share in Asia. The photo shows a big new Comet newspaper press line at KHL in Singapore. Now KBA has set its sights on the Australian market The new Australian office will have a local management and sales team supported by a permanent resident sales and engineering unit from KBA´s headquarters in Germany.   Says KBA executive vice-president of web sales, Walter Schumacher "In the current financial year the KBA group will post a turnover of 1.25 billion euros. Our web offset presses for newspaper, semi-commercial, telephone directory and commercial production, our Rapida sheetfed offset presses and our digital offset presses hit the mark among print entrepreneurs who demand an exceptional standard of output, reliability and print quality." He continues, "The decision to set up the new company was inspired by decision-makers in the Australian and New Zealand printing industry, who are eager for cost-effective, technologically advanced production alternatives. Our product mix and services will enable us to offer printers in Australia and New Zealand customised systems to support regional diversity."