Optical and precision electronics manufacturer Olympus Corporation of Japan will establish its regional headquarters for Middle East and Africa (MEA) in Dubai, UAE.

The MEA regional headquarters will be inaugurated in January 2017. Middle East healthcare veteran Maurice Faber will lead Olympus MEA as its regional managing director.

Olympus Corporation is world leader in optical and digital precision technology for sectors including life sciences, healthcare, energy, petroleum, construction, aviation, mining and precious metals such as gold and platinum.

The 2,000 sq m Olympus MEA Regional Headquarter in Dubai will cover 72 countries in a vast territory stretching from the western shores of the African Continent across the Levant and the Middle East to Iran and Turkey.

“Since the Olympus MEA Regional Headquarter covers a huge and diverse territory, several locations were examined. We chose Dubai because of its infrastructure, connectivity and ease to source a global pool of talent,” said Faber. The Dubai RHQ will report to Hamburg-based Olympus Europa, which acts as the regional centre for the larger EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.

“Being in the region is testament to Olympus’ commitment to Middle East and Africa as a long-term strategic growth market. We are making significant investments in this more focused approach with a new HQ in the MEA for the MEA,” said Faber.

“Olympus can now listen, respond and communicate with partners and clients in MEA far more effectively with growth and problem-solving strategies designed locally compared to a uniform policy from outside the region,” Faber added.

Training Centre
Olympus MEA will set up a dedicated training centre as part of its regional headquarter. “Our products – high-end endoscopes and microscopes for the life sciences and healthcare sector, and digital precision products such as endoscopes and spectroscopes to detect engine and metal stress and fatigue in jet engines, gas turbines and to determine purity of gold, for instance – require a very high level of competence to service,” explained Faber.

“By training our customers and partners on Olympus innovations directly in the region, we will transfer our global high-end medtech expertise to the Middle East and Africa region.

"Also, we realised that a big part of our service related issues can be avoided by improved training on product handling. That’s why the Olympus Training Center in Dubai will be a big asset for customers and Olympus alike,” he added.

Service Centre
Olympus MEA will also set up a service centre and stock parts at its Dubai regional headquarter.

“A Service Center in Dubai will substantially improve uptime of the products to the customers. Staffed by Olympus technicians, it will provide a significantly higher level of service competency than through indirect channels,” said Faber.

“Many of our customers use our equipment in mission critical tasks such as maintenance in aviation, petroleum pipelines and energy turbines. This new service center will also stock temporary replacement equipment in several cases.”

Regional Potential
Faber emphasised that Olympus has a cohesive strategy to play a positive role in MEA’s infrastructure development and growth.

“The Middle East and Africa is world’s next growth area as governments implement a more focused and planned approach to infrastructure development to improve economic output and individual quality of life.

“Our key business segment, healthcare, is rapidly expanding driven by population growth, aging populations, higher incomes and more access to healthcare through the availability of health insurance.

“Aviation is another key segment and is already in the process for massive fleet expansions in region ranging from 66 per cent to a whopping 507 per cent. Industry in the region is going through modernization, efficiency drives and price pressures. This key sectoral growth represents strong opportunities to expand Olympus’ offerings to existing and new customers,” Faber added.

Olympus provides innovative solutions for state-of-the-art medical systems, digital cameras as well as scientific solutions.  - TradeArabia News Service