Sika Egypt has been witnessing considerable attention over the past period from senior management which has been represented in various visits for the branches of the company in Egypt, as well as for many of the major projects.
This interview is answered by the Director of the European, African and Middle East regions, Mr. Ivo Schaedler and the Regional Director for Africa, Mr. Jean De Martres, both with the General Manager of the company in Egypt, Eng. Ehab Naguib.
What is the secret of shedding the lights on Egypt at this period?
Eng. Ehab Naguib
Obviously, the great development in the Egyptian economy is clear and encouraging and we believe in it, especially the prosperity in the construction market, so we are giving it a great concern through providing new technological services that could keep pace with this continuous development. Here we offer, for instance, the latest additives for multiple purpose concrete known as Sika ViscoCrete MB, which is used at both concrete mixing plants and precast concrete, we also introduced another market industrial flooring materials as PureCem which combines the advantages of cement and polyurethane. These materials have been met with success more than expected for their unprecedented advantages in the Egyptian market.
While in the field of customer service in accordance with the communications revolution and the digital world, we in Sika Egypt are proud of being a pioneer at providing for the first time in the region E-Commerce (buying online) which saves the customers’ time and effort in getting their required materials and receiving it effortlessly, and these are just the beginnings of a new phase agreed upon by the administration to be presented to the Egyptian market of construction.
What is Sika’s corporate strategy on the global level generally and the African level particularly?
Mr. Ivo Schaedler
We are working globally to maintain and develop our growth rates by increasing our presence in the market and the development of our staff and this is our approach, which has always achieved our success.
In Africa we are present in 18 countries by which we offer services for 80% of the African market to provide materials, technical advice and training, and we seek to be the pioneers in this growing market by what we possess of unique local models, and this is the success that we are seeking for.
In your own opinion, what are the most prominent competitive advantages of Sika Egypt?
Mr. Ivo Schaedler
Sika Egypt is deeply engaged in this market for more than 30 years, and it is very close to its customers, contractors and projects and was always fully aware of their requirements and providing them with their required materials and services in an outstanding manner. We always invest here in the development of materials and production lines, besides, raising the efficiency of our staff, and as a consequence we achieved a big difference in this market.
What initiative has Sika Egypt provided of selling construction materials online (e-commerce?)
Mr. Ivo Schaedler
This is a great and unique excellence which will allow customers, ordinary individuals and stakeholders to save their time and get their requirements immediately and in a convenient way.
According to both your experiences, what are some of your other views and opinions?
Mr. Jean de Martres and Mr. Ivo
The employees at Sika Egypt are a reflection of the values and principles of the company, which is obviously customer satisfaction as a priority. And we had met during the visit team of young workers who believe in the opportunities and the necessity to improve our position in the Egyptian market which made our impression very positive and encouraging.
What we need is a local system with full awareness the market mechanisms, customs and requirements in addition to knowing how to deal with its clients.
Mr. Ivo concluded
I was impressed by the level of production units and developments that have been completed, and I would like to mention that we Sika believe in the development occurring in Egypt despite the circumstances and challenges. Sika Egypt is also able to continue and improve strongly and this will assure our customers that we are trustworthy.
