MANILA, Philippines--Local company Gurango Software Corp. (GSC) says it aims to expand in China one city at a time.

The local software firm earlier disclosed plans to expand further abroad this year and cited China as a potential market.

GSC has been in expansion mode since last year, acquiring South Africa-based Absalom Systems, which gained the Filipino-owned company a presence in Singapore and Australia.

"We look at China in terms of multiple geographies," said Joey Gurango, GSC's founder and chief executive as he emphasized the size of the Chinese market.

GSC is expanding globally through acquiring companies with a presence in its target markets. Gurango hinted that further expansion may involve similar acquisitions although he did not mention specific details.

"Depending on where you are in the country, each market tends to be different," Gurango said in an interview, referring to China. He mentioned initially targeting major markets in China, including Beijing and Shanghai.

"We will try to address market issues specific to a particular area," he replied, when asked whether the company feels daunted by competition coming from local Chinese software makers.

GSC is also looking to capitalize on its long-time partnership with software giant Microsoft. The company is a value added reseller of Microsoft Dynamics business software and likewise sells original software running on Microsoft's platform.

Fermin Taruc, GSC's global chief operating officer, emphasized the need to build a good brand in China due to intense competition from the local software industry.

"Being a Microsoft partner, half of the work is already done," said Taruc, who used to head another local software firm Jupiter Systems, which had plans of entering China.

Aside from China, Taruc said GSC is also planning to build a presence this year in the Middle East and Switzerland, the latter as a base for targeting the European market.

GSC disclosed P36 million in total revenues for the first quarter.

($1 = P43.75)