SINGAPORE-BASED Haw Par Healthcare, maker of the world-famous Tiger Balm products, has been in Central America and the Caribbean quite a while - in Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Suriname.

'We've been selling in the region through a distributor for many years,' says company spokeswoman Jacqueline Chang. 'Our business involves the sale and distribution of healthcare products under the Tiger Balm brand.'

The company has been working with the same distributors for years and is happy with their sales and marketing efforts. 'They are not large companies but they have shown a keen interest in promoting Tiger Balm to their consumers,' says Ms Chang.

'These markets are far from Singapore, with languages and cultures much different from our own, so marketing Tiger Balm there depends heavily on local knowledge.

'We are lucky to have the right distributors, who are both passionate and successful in gaining consumer confidence in Tiger Balm.'

Tiger Balm is known in Central America and the Caribbean for relieving muscular aches and pains, says Ms Chang.

Haw Par Healthcare will continue to invest in expanding the market for Tiger Balm in Central America and the Caribbean, she says.

This article was first published in The Business Times on January 22, 2009.