23rd May
2007
Our policy is to bring to Romania top-quality products
Interview with Jae Cheon Park, General Manager Samsung Electronics Romania.
Which are the main advantages for a foreign company entering the Romanian market?
For Samsung, experience at a global level has always been very important, along
with our company’s proven capacity to adjust quite well to the specific
needs in the markets where it operates.
Samsung is one of the multinational corporations with the highest growth rates
in terms of market value, according to the Interbrand survey. This proves that
Samsung has consolidated its position as an international-level premium brand.
Another advantage is offered by the diversity of the products we provide: Samsung
Electronics is a global leader in the semi-conductor industry, in telecoms, digital
media devices and digital convergence.
The numerous products and services prove that Samsung is a dynamic, innovating
company, always ready not only to take challenges, but to launch challenges in
its turn.
How do you expect your business to grow in the coming years?
At present there are two major technology trends. One of them is the specialisation
of electronic devices, so as to be able to meet the users’ most refined
demands, and the second is the digital convergence trend. For Samsung, digital
convergence is not only a trend which reflects market developments, but also a
vision that we are living by, and which requires standardisation efforts at an
industry level and the signature of agreements between top producers, in order
to launch technologies which are user-friendly and, more importantly, able to
operate together, to benefit the user.
Romania is a very attractive market to Samsung, and it will remain so. Our policy
is to bring to Romania the same top-quality products that we sell in other European
countries as well. This policy will remain unchanged in the ensuing period.
Which are the main hindrances to new companies entering a market?
I believe it is a little more difficult for a company to enter a market, especially
when it does not benefit from a powerful brand, to provide it with the experience
of new markets and with a global approach.
Then, I think it is a challenge to create or notice the permanent demand in a
market for your products. With the risk of using a cliché, I should say
that you must always predict customers’ needs. Our products are mostly premium
products, and our customers always expect us to come up with state of the art
technology and with a great design at the same time. This is why we keep launching
innovating products, which virtually set trends in the specialised market. For
instance, the new series of products launched by Samsung at CeBIT 2007 this spring
includes the smallest and most powerful printer in the world, the first multifunctional
monitor with USB connection ports, a 30-inch LED backlight monitor and three notebooks
with a special finishing. Moreover, Samsung redefines the multimedia mobile technology
with its Ultra Edition II series and the Ultra Music (SGH-F300) mobile phone.
To what extent do you find Romanians responsive? How do you get along with the
team here?
This is a topic that I like talking about. In my opinion, Romanians are very creative
and open to new technologies. During my stay here, I’ve had an opportunity
to apply general business rules, but more often than not I and my team were forced
to find the best solutions applicable to the local context, to analyse and come
up with the most suitable strategies which, in many cases, could not have worked
in other markets, in a different context.
The Romanian experts have proved to be just as well trained – or even better
trained – than those in countries with a long business tradition in the
IT&C sector. Which is why working with them is always a high-quality professional
experience, which I believe any manager would like to have.
What is your relationship with customers? Is it easier to make business contacts
here, or abroad?
Our products are sold in Romania through dealers and large-scale chains of specialised
stores, with which we have very good relations.
Given that the Romanian market is growing, our relations with partners here are
similar to those in the major markets of the world, because customer responsiveness
generates demand. Thus, economic mechanisms force us and those with whom we have
business relations, to prove our quality and to preserve our status as a high-level
multinational corporation.
Obviously, there are also local features of the business environment, which is
true for any country, since there is a different business culture and perception.
We adjust to it and try to preserve our professional attitude regardless of challenges.
Was it difficult for you to adjust to Romania?
Managing a team of high-level experts in a foreign country is, in itself, not
very easy. You need time to integrate in a society which is different in many
respects from what you come from. I am a man who likes new things, so in this
respect as well, the job in Romania is what I was looking for.
On the other hand, the local development of a company such as Samsung in a consolidating
economy requires constant efforts, made together with the team I am working with.
How do you think Romania will develop in the coming years?
Your country has had a very special destiny for the past 20 years. It is very
difficult to shift from a centralised economy to a functioning market economy,
based on demand and supply.
I notice that fast and significant steps are being made in a lot of fields. I
have noted that Romanian IT experts are, in most cases, very skilled, and are
some of the best in the world. I believe Romanian experts will eventually take
over most key positions in the specialised Romanian industry, due to their exceptional
professional quality.
Source: Nine O'Clock
Romanian companies continue expansion to Eastern Europe
The Romanian businessmen have ever more daring expansion plans. The companies
do not hesitate to allot millions of EUR in order to tap the markets from Eastern
Europe which have a very big development potential, as it arises from an analysis
of the daily ‘Adevarul.’
The western market attracted brands locally recognized such as Rompetrol in France
and Jolidon in Italy. Thus, Jolidon began its expansion in 2000 by opening a representation
in Budapest, which continued with a new inauguration in 2001 in Milan. Presently,
the group has 55 shops in the main cities and commercial centers from our country,
three in Budapest and 35 in Italy. In the domain of electronic and electrical
household appliances, the firms want to develop, because the Romanian market is
stagnating. The company Flamingo already has 27 shops in countries like Bulgaria,
Croatia, The Netherlands, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro.
But the people from Flamingo want to continue their development in Romania. Domo,
the third retailer in this domain on the Romanian market, expands in the cities
along the Danube. Domo has already shops in Sofia, Ruse, Varna, Plovdiv, Haskovo,
Sliven, Sumen, Jambol. The target for the present year is to have 12 shops in
this area. Although the leader of this market with a quota of 26 per cent, Altex
is only a local brand that has not yet crossed the border.
Shifting to another sector, Serbia and Bulgaria are the first two countries in
which the group Mobexpert has chosen to develop, the first reason being the proximity.
“The specific of these markets is very close to that of Romania, and thus
we can capitalize some of the experiences that we had here,” declared Dan
Sucu, chairman of the group. The latter says that the level of investments in
shops is around EUR 7 M, of which five for the hypermarket from Sofia and EUR
2 M for the two shops Mobexpert Office from Sofia and Belgrade. Sucu announced
that he wants also to expand to Ukraine and Moldova.
In its turn, Romstal wants to impose itself on the relevant market from Eastern
Europe, an objective for which it has budgeted tens of millions of Euro.
“In 2007, the development plans of Romstal will focus on the expansion to
two new highly competitive markets: Bulgaria and Serbia,” declared Ovidiu
Henter, Executive General Manager Romstal. Presently, the retail network of the
company has 157 selling points, of which 120 in Romania, 19 in Ukraine, 17 in
the Republic of Moldova, and one in Italy, with a total surface of 70,000 sq m.
The new owner of the company ‘La Fantana,’ the investment fund Innova
Capital, announced that the plans for 2008 include the listing on the markets
neighbouring Romania and the listing with BVB. “In 2007 we intend to prospect
the markets from Ukraine, Hungary and Greece,” declared Cristian Amza, founder
and General Manager of the group ‘La Fantana.’
Source: Nine O'Clock
Nokia mobiles made in Cluj to be sold in Romania,
Africa and Asia
John Guerry, the man who will be implementing the Nokia Village concept in Cluj,
says that although many of the suppliers of the Finish group are attracted by
Nokia's investment, optimistic forecasts predict that in 2009, when the production
facilities in Jucu will operate at full capacity, Nokia will have around 3,500
employees involved in production operations. Production is due to begin in Cluj
in 2008, where Nokia mobile phones will be assembled and customised.
The Nokia manager said that construction works on the factory in Jucu would begin
in early July, and the first production operations would start by early next year.
The factory will reach its peak capacity by 2009 and the total investment will
amount to approximately 60 million euros.
"Things may develop faster than we first estimated, we may reach the desired
capacity sooner than 2009, but everything depends on the development of the market,"
the manager of the Nokia factory in Cluj explained.
He added that Nokia intends to organise a job fair in Cluj-Napoca at the end of
June, with a view to hiring 500 employees, mainly operators, engineers, logistics
and raw material procurement specialists.
"We cannot provide any accurate estimates for the total number of employees
in Cluj, but there will not be as many as the 15,000 repeatedly speculated. I
believe this information was fuelled by the knowledge that in all the other locations
where Nokia owns production facilities there are also the facilities of our suppliers,"
stated John Guerry, managing director of Nokia for the Cluj-Jucu project.
He says that the Nokia Village concept will also exist in Cluj, but as yet no
final decisions have been made over the number, or the names of Nokia suppliers
who will be operating in Jucu.
"So far, some of our established suppliers have already expressed the wish
to work in Romania, in Cluj. A final decision, however, will only be made once
the necessary infrastructure is in place. Consecutively, the evolution of the
labour market in the area is very important, as we do not want to have Nokia competing
with the suppliers to hire people," Guerry said.
He explained that Nokia's strategy entails suppliers to be located nearby the
production facilities, therefore the number of suppliers who will operate in Cluj
will become known in a few months time. In the meantime, the necessary infrastructure
will be constructed.
"For the time being, we will only recruit in Cluj and the surrounding areas,
with the fair at the end of June also including a session in which we will explain
to individuals what it means to work for Nokia.
Our intent is to select 500 people by the end of the year and train them both
in Romania and abroad, so that next year, when we begin manufacturing, they will
be able to train other new employees," Guerry added.
He went on to say that he intended to have Romanian and foreign managers working
together in the management team, as each category has its strengths.
Source: ZF.ro
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