Swedish engineering company, Sandvik AB, is looking at improving the pace of growth and scale of investments in emerging markets such as India. This follows change at the top levels at Sandvik. Sandvik AB Group has appointed 40-year- old Olof Faxander as president and CEO of the group to lead the worldwide operations.
Faxander thinks Sandvik?s growth rate in emerging markets have been slow and needs to grow more rapidly. ?We may have been conservative and cautious in accessing new markets and regions. We could expect the share of Sandvik’s sales and investments in emerging markets to increase from now on,? Faxander said.
?Going forward, we need to stay competitive. We are going to develop the manufacturing footprint. Many companies have come further than we have in manufacturing in China and India. We are lagging a bit so there is an opportunity there,? Faxander said. India is the first emerging market that Faxander is visiting after taking over as president and CEO from Lars Pettersson. The new chief of Sandvik visited Sandvik Asia operations in India to get to know the business in India and get a good picture of the Sandvik Group.
?We have fantastic opportunities in emerging markets in all our product areas. The industrialisation and urbanisation of China and India will need a lot of raw materials. The energy demands will increase over the coming years. We will be a strong partner and support this growth,? Faxander said at a press meet in Pune. Hakan Kingstedt, MD and President of Sandvik Asia, said, the company had grown 45% in FY11 and were looking growing further and were investing in expanding market and putting more sales and service team on the ground.
