BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, said it would move its Asia-Pacific headquarters for electronic materials business to Seoul in the first half of this year.

The rest of BASF’s regional headquarters will stay in Hong Kong.

The regional headquarters in Seoul will coordinate marketing and product management, sales management and operational management in the Asia-Pacific including China.

BASF has been a leading supplier of electronic materials for more than 30 years, offering high-purity, high-quality process chemicals and specialized solutions for semiconductors, flat panel displays and lighting, including LED and photovoltaics.

“Setting up regional headquarters in Korea will allow us to be closer to the market, identify market trends earlier, respond to customer requirements faster and, therefore, improve our market and innovation power. At the same time, we will continue to build on the success of our well-established organizations in Greater China and ASEAN,” said Lothar Laupichler, senior vice president of BASF Electronic Materials.

BASF’s portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of 72.1 billion euros ($92.6 million) in 2012 and more than 110,000 employees.

On Wednesday, another major German conglomerate, Siemens, signed a preliminary deal with the Korean government to invest in power generation engineering.

“Investment by Siemens will create many high-quality jobs in Korea and give Siemens a chance to leap with the growth of the Korean power generation market,” Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick said at the signing ceremony.

Michael Suess, chief executive of Siemens’ energy sector, said his company would bolster cooperation with Korea through investment in the power generation engineering business.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)