JAKARTA: Philips - one of Europe's oldest multi-national companies - is depending on Asia for future growth, as the economies of Europe and the United States falter.
The region already accounts for a third of its revenue and Philips CEO Frans van Houten said it will continue its investment strategy to put the company in a stronger position when the global economy rebounds.
Mr Van Houten made his first trip to Indonesia since becoming CEO of Philips in April last year.
His visit shows the country's importance as an emerging market, although its current growth is largely driven by China and India.
Looking to the future, Philips sees potential for growth in Indonesia's healthcare sector.
Mr Van Houten said: "We have heard of course about the stated goal to add many hospitals in Indonesia, I think about 120,000 beds. That kind of investment in the country's healthcare infrastructure provides huge growth opportunity for Philips where we can contribute through our knowledge on how to build effective hospitals."
Currently, Philips has two plants in Indonesia, employing more than 3,000 workers. The plants produce light bulbs and consumer products.
Its investment in Asia has so far paid off, boosting the Dutch company's revenue in a sluggish global economy.
Mr Van Houten said: "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."
And that brand history is going to continue.
Under his leadership, Mr Van Houten launched a project, unprecedented for Philips - using social media to find out what their consumers want... in this case, it's to find out what doctors want.
Mr Van Houten said: "We want to engage with people in the country. And thanks to modern technology - social media - we can have a two-way dialogue. So the plus project is about engaging with people in Indonesia to hear what's on their minds - to hear what's on the minds of doctors, to hear what's on the minds of consumers and to get feedback of what's important to them."
And using that valuable knowledge, Philips will craft its expansion plans, with an eye to the future.
Mr Van Houten said: "So 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."
It's almost unthinkable to give Indonesia a miss for MNCs like Philips that have expansion plans in Asia.
The numbers are just staggering. In the last five years, Indonesia's middle class doubled to more than 13 million. And this is the consumer class that is projected to grow by another 90 million by 2030 - behind only China and India.
- CNA/de
Dutch multinational firm Philips eyes Asia for future growth
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Dutch multinational firm Philips eyes Asia for future growth
