A brief interview with Manohar Raghavan, Area Leader - Middle East & Africa, 3M:
Kuwait Times: Can you briefly tell us your expansion plans for the region, with special reference to Kuwait?
Manohar Raghavan: Middle East is one of the key growth drivers for the broader Middle East and Africa region and we continue to see the growth momentum picking up in multiple industries. With our aggressive growth strategy for the region, we have made significant investment in the Middle East region by expanding our presence in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and are actively pursuing opportunities in other emerging economies, such us Iraq and Oman.
We have been present in Kuwait for over five years and have added front end resources to increase our coverage in the market place. There are significant opportunities to further increase our penetration in some of the key markets, whether it is in oil and gas, healthcare, consumer or infrastructure. With the Middle East region poised for further growth in line with the government plans to increase the investments in key markets, we will continue to look at opportunities in certain segments, including the mega trends that are shaping the economies of the countries.
KT: Does your expansion plan involve any major acquisitions as well?
Raghavan: External growth is critical for 3M and we have acquired many companies in the last few years globally and will pursue further. We will continue to pursue opportunities within the region in some of the key countries and segments and look at the same when the targets are attractive, strategic fit of the target and time is right.
KT: What is the growth potential for 3M in the MENA region in the context of increasing competition?
Raghavan: MENA region has always been very competitive and with the western world softening, we will see increased competitive pressure in driving volume and the competition will use pricing to drive large volume, mainly in core areas. However, with the low penetration in several North African countries and some of the Middle East countries and the increased spending expected from Government, every company has room for increasing the penetration and accelerated growth.
There are significant opportunities in healthcare, industrial, consumer, construction and oil and gas. In addition to all these, there are mega events that are planned for the region, whether it is the World Cup in Qatar 2022 and the World Expo 2020, if UAE wins the same. All these will bring in opportunities for growth and we are very well positioned to leverage these opportunities.
KT: I understand that Saudi Arabia is a major market for 3M. How do you propose to pursue yourbusiness strategy and expansion plans in the Kingdom?
Raghavan: Saudi Arabia is one of the key countries for our growth in the Middle East & Africa Region. We have made significant investment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the last few years. We have recently moved to a much bigger office in Riyadh, opened a branch in Jeddah and currently looking at a customer innovation center in Riyadh. We have also invested in front-end resources, increased our local capability in the technical, regulatory, professional sales, supply chain and marketing areas.
We are now actively looking at expanding our presence in the Eastern province. In addition to all these, we have also made investments in the two key growth drivers mainly oil and gas and government markets. Our key strategy has always been expanding our presence in the market place and making relevance to our customers. New products introduction at a faster pace will be key to our long term success and we are very well positioned to leverage the opportunities.
KT: Can you give me a brief overview of the mega projects bagged by 3M in the region?
Raghavan: We have been an active player in the infrastructure development whether it is in development of the new airports/airport expansion in the area or in the commercial buildings, providing advanced active and passive fire protection to oil and gas and commercial buildings, providing biometric solutions to multiple Government and private segments, connecting the world through structured cabling solutions, enhancing the aesthetics through an array of graphic solutions and meeting the emerging needs of the healthcare industries.
Since we are a diversified technology company, with over 65,000 products coming out of 46 core technology platforms, it is very difficult to list all the projects as we would have made our presence in each and every industry, whether it is in large scale or limited to supply of some consumer products.
KT: Explain 3M's Middle East growth and profitability targets.
Raghavan: Our strategy has been to outpace the economy by 2 to 3 times depending on the segments. We have been growing over 15 percent in the core industries and 10-12 percent on the non-core industries. Some of the emerging countries have also shown much higher growth rates and aspiration is to outpace the economy with a higher run than in the past and the strategies are laid out to meet the same.
KT: Aviation and oil and gas are the fastest growing sectors in the region. What are the solutions 3M can specifically offer to the businesses in these sectors?
Raghavan: 3M's strength is in the 46 core technology platform that we own. With this 46 core technologies, we are able combine them and bring in products/solutions that will meet and exceed our customer needs. Customer inspired innovation is one of the core areas that we are focused on and our technical and R&D team are working towards bringing in more innovative solutions that are needed in the market place.
3M spends over $1.5 billion on R&D on an average per year and we work very closely with the markets and our customers to understand the needs. We offer thousands of products, such us the advanced bonding solutions, technologically superior abrasives, vast array of personal safety products, very advanced ceramic solutions, aesthetically pleasing matting solutions, improved slip and fall safety products, electrical solutions, advanced active fire protection products etc to oil and gas and aviation industries.
© Kuwait Times 2013
