Turkish Republic Day: Message from Can Dinçer Chief Commercial Officer of Arçelik A.?.

TEXT: ‘Cumhuriyet Bayram?’, or the Turkish Republic Day is celebrated with great fanfare as a national festival of Turkey. The holiday commemorates the historic occasion of the ‘Proclamation of the Turkish Republic, by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on 29th October, 1923. On this historic occasion, the name of the country was proclaimed as Türkiye Cumhuriyeti and the Grand National Assembly voted and elected their revolutionary and patriotic leader - Mr. Atatürk as the first President of the Republic.

The robust Turkish enterprises operating in Pakistan are inspiring their personnel and customers to join the vibrant celebrations of Turkish Republic Day. Over the decades, Turkey and Pakistan have established lasting socio-economic ties, based on trust, to foster mutual advantages and global competitiveness, with the sharing of valuable knowledge and resources between the two brotherly Islamic countries. This relationship continues to nurture prolific collaborations between both the governments and their citizens. In recent years, the national leaderships of the respective states – His Excellency, President Tayyip Erdogan and the Honorable Prime Minister, Imran Khan, have also developed a very strong personal relationship.

This harmony has also inspired one of the world’s biggest, most innovative, Turkish companies like Arcelik and several other resourceful enterprises, to make large-scale investments in Pakistan to enable technology-transfers and innovative endeavors in various industries. Since Pakistan’s technology-leader – Dawlance has been acquired by Arcelik in 2016 – this second largest manufacturer in Europe has already invested more than 300 million Dollars in its Pakistani subsidiary.

Since Arçelik is owned by Koç Holding A S - a Fortune 500 company and Turkey's largest industrial conglomerate, it is providing all the resources to increase the capacity of Dawlance, by deploying the latest production - machinery and facilities, while also expanding the export-potential of Dawlance’s wide range of high-quality home-appliances and electronic-products. These revolutionary products from Dawlance have the technologies to enable more than 50% Energy-Conservation, to promise the protection of the environment. Koç Holding has expressed its commitment to further expand its heavy investments and operations in Pakistan. While Dawlance has already established a vast network of 2000 dealers across Pakistan and the largest manufacturing plants, supported by the global Research and Development capabilities of Arçelik.

We have already gained a very strong foothold in one of the world’s most promising markets, Pakistan and further built on the strengths of Dawlance. We are very proud to see that Dawlance and Arçelik grow together as part of a larger and global organization. Arçelik operates across a vast geography spanning from Europe to Middle East and Africa to Asia and is progressing steadily on a global path. We have successfully transferred our technology know-how and innovation capabilities and invested in Dawlance to develop the business. In future, we plan to introduce competitive pricing models in all categories to respond to the evolving needs and demands of our consumers and make our distribution channels more effective.

Our main objectives are to expand our experience stores and e-commerce platforms and increase small-medium potential dealers. At Arçelik, sustainability is at the very core of our business model in line with our vision ‘Respecting the World, Respected Worldwide’. We focus on developing environment friendly products, increasing energy efficiency in our global manufacturing network and contributing to the societies’ social innovation projects. I’m very proud to say that Pakistan will hopefully be one of the contributors to this vision.

Koç Holding has a successful history of over 60 years, as it spans the; automotive, electronics, finance and energy sectors, while employing over 92,500 people around the world. Arcelik is a leading Player in the Home-Appliances Industry with 20 R&D facilities and design centers, including one R&D center in Karachi, Pakistan. Over the years, Arçelik has expanded its production-base, by establishing 23 manufacturing facilities in 9 countries, while its products are exported and sold in over 150 countries. Environment-Protection and employee well-being are also among the primary focuses of the group.

Dawlance has achieved large manufacturing capabilities owing to its 3 factories in Pakistan. It is also expanding its largest Sales and Services network, with several Experience Stores in the country, along with implementing a robust strategy to expand its exports to other countries. In future, it plans to establish more experience stores in other cities too, a similar approach in both Arçelik and Dawlance is the dynamic structuring of distribution channels, which is an important part of its growth strategy.

To improve better healthcare and educational facilities in Pakistan, Dawlance supports several hospitals and universities in Pakistan, with major contributions from Arçelik Turkey. Besides regular training and development for its workforce, Dawlance also seeks deeper insights into the evolving needs of the Pakistani consumers and other stakeholders. It sponsors environment-friendly projects that promise more sustainability and wellbeing of the public, while drastically reducing the company’s carbon foot-print. Dawlance and Arçelik are also working together on multiple Green initiatives to ensure large scale plantation of Trees and Mangroves.

The key to Pakistan’s progress is the deployment of advanced technologies and Arçelik is enabling socio-economic enrichments, besides fulfilling the evolving needs of our consumers. The Turkish and Pakistani governments must continue to work together, offering more incentives for large scale joint-ventures and public-private partnerships for the business communities.

During the impact of the Covid-19 global pandemic, the industrial and commercial growth in Pakistan has suffered a major impact, However, Arçelik and Dawlance ensured elaborate safety measures and healthcare protocols to keep the employees and consumers safe from this dangerous disease. At the same time, the demand for home appliances had increased during the pandemic, because the consumers were spending much more time at home. Dawlance and Arçelik took this as an opportunity to rapidly develop E-Commerce and promote digital-accessibility for the customers. This Omni-channel transformation and outreach has enabled rapid growth and increased the trading volumes of these progressive companies. A comparison of year 2020, when the pandemic started, with 2021 portrays a significant increase in our sales by units.

This year, the company has begun to manufacture air conditioners locally. Prior to this, washing machine capacity had been subsequently increased through addition of more production lines. Following the success in the Pakistani market, Dawlance Arçelik is targeting other countries in the region as well. Therefore, an export potential of $400 million has been anticipated for washing machine brands.

Pakistan has a population of over 200 million which assures high economic growth forums, and significant investment potential. Turkey and Pakistan are two friendly countries with strong historical ties. Pakistan offers promising conditions for Turkish companies that intend to do invest in the growing market. The country promises important opportunities with its dynamic population and low penetration rates. We aim to meet the Pakistani consumers’ needs with products that combine higher technology and energy efficiency, with our global know-how and R&D capabilities. Arçelik will continue to invest on economic development and social purpose driven works and projects in Pakistan.

Pakistan and Turkey are also working together to build modern infrastructure and trade routes to establish trains & highways to connect Pakistan and Turkey. Resourceful Turkish Enterprises are also fulfilling their Corporate Social Responsibilities in Pakistan, to enable long term sustainability through many deve- lopmental Initiatives. These efforts promise to ensure a brighter future for both nations, which depends on more collaborative ventures and increased bilateral trade.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021