SPA-- Embraer, the world's fourth largest aircraft maker, Wednesday announced plans to significantly expand its presence in the Asia Pacific with an investment of US$40 million this year, Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported. The plans include new commercial agreements and collaboration with industry service provider that will allow it to offer enhanced training and spare parts distribution to a growing number of Embraer customer in the region. "Asia is an extremely important region for Embraer. Recent sales have demonstrated that the market here is well suited to our products," Embraer's executive vice-president, airline market, Frederico Fleury Curado, said at a news conference here. The expansion is a direct result of Embraer's growing orders for regional jets which have reached a firm backlog of 128 aircraft for the Asia Pacific region, including China. Embraer, headquartered in Brazil, is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jets up to 120 seats and one of Brazil's leading exporters. -- SPA
