Singapore: Dubai-headquartered GAC Group has announced plans to continue with its positive five-year growth strategy in spite of current economic conditions. "Times may be bad but they are not equally bad nor are they bad everywhere," said GAC Group president Lars Säfverström, at a meeting last week. "We expect our operating income to grow by 13% in 2009 and our port call volumes to reach 60,000 for the year.
"Marine Service remains solid and while our logistics and freight forwarding operations are clearly being affected by the global conditions, we still expect to see growth in that business area," he said.
The Group's five-year strategic plan, "Vision Y - Global Values", was adopted in 2008. It sets a range of targets including those for revenue growth, operating margins and initiatives related to staff development and retention.
Among recent developments has been the establishment of a new business area called GAC Solutions whose task is to develop new services in partnership with leading global product and service providers.
Säfverström told the management meeting that the coming years would see stronger emphasis on clear and open corporate governance and a greater commitment to high ethical standards. "I expect being ethical to align with being profitable as we go forward into the second decade of this century," he said.
He added there would be increased focus on improving and refining internal processes to ensure more effective customer service. [04/02/09]
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