OREANDA-NEWS. August 1, 2011. ST Electronics and NEC Corporation (NEC) announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate in Information Communication Technologies (ICT) initiatives. The first initiative under this MOU, is a joint venture agreement between ST Electronics' wholly owned subsidiary, ST Electronics (Info-Software Systems) Pte. Ltd., and NEC Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (NEC APAC) to set up NEC STEE Cloud Services Pte. Ltd. (NEC STEE Cloud Services).

ST Electronics is the electronics arm of public listed, ST Engineering. The set up of this joint venture is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets per share and earnings per share of ST Engineering for the current financial year.

The new joint venture will be set up with an initial investment of SUSD 6m. NEC APAC will own a 60% stake in NEC STEE Cloud Services and ST Electronics (Info-Software Systems) the remaining 40% stake.

NEC STEE Cloud Services will set up a Cloud Oriented Data Centre (CODC*) to offer Software as a Service (SaaS) to both public and private institutions in Singapore, and subsequently to other ASEAN countries.

Existing customers from both companies that choose to move to this new cloud business model will benefit from lower operating costs by outsourcing their requirements to NEC STEE Cloud Services.

Beyond this initial joint venture, NEC and ST Electronics will also explore other areas of collaboration for solutions, technologies and services.

"As part of NEC's global strategies, one of which is to expand our global footprint for our Cloud business, NEC is excited at this opportunity to work with the ST Electronics group, one of the leading ICT companies in Singapore to collaborate on this cloud initiative. Singapore, being the Asia Pacific regional headquarters for NEC, is the ideal location to kick start this cloud business into the region. We believe the collaboration will benefit not only both companies in expanding our territories, but ultimately, our customers who can leverage on the latest and advanced technologies provided by the two technology powerhouses."  Toshiyuki Mineno, Executive Vice President and CGBO (Chief Global Business Officer), NEC Corporation.

"ST Electronics is delighted to work with NEC Corporation. The set up of NEC STEE Cloud Services is the first of several potential collaborations and strengthens ST Electronics' globalisation strategy in providing eco-enabling ICT solutions and Cloud services to the markets in this region. We will leverage on our combined strengths to provide a range of comprehensive end-to-end solutions that includes secure and efficient applications, support services and infrastructure."         LEE Fook Sun, President, ST Electronics.