Hytsu Group of Shanghai, China has appointed Capital Industries Inc as its Philippines forklift distributor in an official ceremony held this month.

"The increasing demand for materials handling equipment signifies an increase in industrial development," Manny Cuasay, president of Capital Industries, told the Manila Bulletin. "With a growing economy, more products are produced, distributed, and delivered, thus the need for more forklifts."

The company saw the potential in Chinese-manufactured equipment and brought Hytsu forklifts to the Philippine market. "In the 70s, it was US brands. Then they left and Japanese brands became dominant. Today, Chinese brands are rising," Cuasay said.

Prior to its official launch in the Philippines, Hytsu had partnered with Capital Industries to prove its equipment's quality and give users a chance to try the product. "Five years ago, we still had to convince Filipinos (that Hytsu was a good product). We partnered with Capital Industries. They rented out Hytsu forklifts and with that, we were able to prove (to the local market) that the brand is good," said Hytsu Group chairman Xiaosheng.

Capital Industries was awarded a 10-year exclusive distributorship of Hytsu Forklift products.

Xiaosheng confirmed to Forkliftaction.com News that the company, which was established in 2004, still employs the strategy of marketing to overseas markets only. "In China, there are many brands, forklift manufacturers and traders, but not all Chinese forklifts are called Hytsu. Hytsu is developing in [its own] way."