Philips CEO Frans van Houten has stated the company's commitment to expansion in Asia during a trip to Indonesia.
The continent currently accounts for a third of the company's revenue and Philips said it intends to continue its investment strategy to put the company in a stronger position when the global economy rebounds.
During his visit,Mr van Houten told channelnewsasia:"Europe for Philips is about 25 per cent of our revenue.Asia is 36.So you can see that we already re-positioned Philips to become much more of an Asian company and Asia is our second home.Of course,we have a long brand history in Asia."
Currently,Philips has two plants in Indonesia,employing more than 3,000 workers.The company also recently opened a large LED facility in Penang,Malaysia.
In the last five years,Indonesia's middle class doubled to more than 30 million.This figure is expected to grow by another 90 million by 2030,third behind China and India.This is the consumer class that Philips is targeting.
Mr van Houten added:"We see this as a time to invest and to make sure that we come out of this world's crisis in a much stronger way by engaging in the right opportunity and also by making sure that we invest in those countries like Indonesia where we can grow."
