Tuna Gulenc

DUBAI, UAE, 18 August 2019: Daikin Middle East and Africa (MEA) has relocated to a 22,000-square-metre facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, which will serve as the company’s new headquarters and base for business and operations in the region, said Tuna Gulenc, Vice President, Sales, Daikin MEA. The decision to move to a new headquarters, Gulenc said, came two years ago, as the company wanted to combine its Training Academy, Air-Handling Unit (AHU) factory and an upcoming experience centre. “We are growing and expanding in the region very aggressively,” he said. “Thanks to this expansion, we are in the region with 400 employees – 250 in this building, but together with our affiliates in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, we are almost 400. We have a big expansion plan, and we wanted to come to a place that will serve us in terms of quality and quantity, for our colleagues and customers.”

Daikin MEA’s new headquarters in JAFZA

Gulenc said that the new facility will also serve as a vital platform for upcoming training programmes and for a showroom for consultants, contractors, designers and other end-users. “We are going to establish a unique kind of solution plaza, where our customers can come and see all Daikin units and product features,” he said. “The invisible values will be made visible in this facility.” In line with the company’s commitment to facilitate greater knowledge transfer, Gulenc said, Daikin hopes to potentially use the facility to train students on the importance of air and humidity, adding that essentially, the solution plaza aims to illustrate all the values the company proposes to customers and to society.

Touching on the company’s growth strategy in the region, Gulenc said that Daikin considers Saudi Arabia as one of its largest growth markets in the region. “The economy is very dynamic in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “Housing is growing, population is growing, and energy efficiency is a very hot topic. We see big opportunity for Daikin in Saudi Arabia.”

Gulenc added that the company is particularly optimistic about market opportunities in Kuwait, which is following the same positive momentum Saudi Arabia has exhibited, as has Oman, which is a focus market for Daikin.

Gulenc said that Daikin also plans to establish offices across Africa and that western and northern Africa continue to be main focus points for the company, especially Egypt, where business has increased almost 10 times and is considered a main growth area. “For the time being, we are active in project businesses, but we are targeting to be active in the residential sector and with split systems,” he said. Gulenc added that Nigeria, Ghana and Tunisia are also of interest to the company.

Gulenc emphasised that, over the years, the company has increased the scope of its operations, logistics and financial investment in the region. He added that the new facility showcases not only Daikin’s commitment to its five-year strategic management plan but also its commitment to society. “Daikin, as a company, makes step-by-step and long-term investment,” he said. “Our aim is to increase the number of employees, train more engineers, train more installers, increase our facilities and, finally, to positively contribute to the society and economy of the country in terms of energy efficiency, environment and employment. We came here to do business but our company vision is always to give back to the society; therefore, we make big investments in the training facility and to bring new, better technology for the market.”

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Hannah Jo Uy is Assistant Editor at Climate Control Middle East magazine. She may be contacted at hannah@cpi-industry.com