Siemens will be building its Asian headquarters for its energy solution business in Korea, the company said on Tuesday, a move that will transfer valuable engineering know-how to the nation.

It will be the second such regional head office for the German engineering company in the sector of power generation engineering after one in the U.S., Siemens executives said, stressing that the plans would help create a strong platform for Korea to advance in its electric engineering technology.

“This is not a mere regional office. This will be a sweeping headquarters overlooking not only the Asia-Pacific, but onward to the Middle East,” said Kim Jong-kap, chairman of Siemens Korea.

The company plans to recruit up to 500 engineers from overseas by 2017, when the first phase of investment will wrap up. The team will be comprised mostly of experts on environmentally friendly engineering technology.

“We can eventually seek to cut the costs by learning this technology as soon as we can,” Kim said.

This year alone, Siemens plans to employ up to 100 engineers in October as a part of its plans for establishing its energy solution headquarters here.

The company declined to confirm, but sources said Siemens would seek to fill most of the quota for the 500 engineers with Koreans.

Siemens has recently been accelerating its expansion in Korea. In March, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy for investing in plants and engineering here.

Siemens, which touts global leadership in electric engineering, operates a energy solution business focused on offering solutions for all types of energy generation, from gas, combined cycle power plants and fossil fuel.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)