Stories

Volvo Group Singapore welcomes Ambassador of Sweden

2022-03-03

To kick off 2022, Volvo Group Singapore was extremely honored to welcome the visit of Ambassador Kent Härstedt, and his colleagues, Ms. Jenny Egermark, Counselor and Deputy Head of Mission, and Mr. Emil Akander, Trade Commissioner of Business Sweden.

Volvo Group Singapore welcomed Sweden’s Ambassador to Singapore, Kent Härstedt, and his colleagues to its office. The Country Management Team shared the overall operations of each business unit and exchanged future plans for closer collaboration during a half day meeting.

The morning meeting opened with a warm welcome and introduction from the Country Management Team (CMT), led by Chairman Muralidharan AM. CMT representatives from HR, Volvo Trucks, Volvo Buses, Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Penta, Volvo Treasury and Service Market Logistics presented an overview of the company’s structure and Volvo’s 40 over years of successful journey in Singapore, as well as its business operations.

As part of the program, the Ambassador was given a tour of the Volvo parts warehouse, led by David Bazyn, Director of Singapore Regional Distribution Centre. This regional warehouse was established in Singapore since 2005 and has the responsibility to supply spare parts for the Volvo product range to South East Asia. Securing uptime for our customers’ business is paramount. The tour also included a walk-through of the Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE) workshop, guided by Muralidharan AM, Head of Productivity and Retail Development of Volvo CE. The workshop covers 4 working bay and services more than 10 vehicles on a daily basis. “To enhance service business, we launched in Oct 2018 the Asia uptime centre, which allows us to gather real time machine data, service enrollment and administration records, and to ultimately improve the equipment uptime,” shared Muralidharan AM.

The fruitful meeting ended with a group photo in front of the new Volvo FM. “I’m very impressed by the visit to Volvo – not just by the cutting-edge buses and trucks, but also your strong stand on diversity and aim to become the world leader in sustainable transport solutions,” commented the Ambassador.

In this open discussion, the Ambassador explained Sweden’s long-term plan and priorities in Singapore and expressed a strong commitment to support and help Swedish companies grow both locally and globally, map future pathways, mitigate risks and tap into accelerating opportunities. The Volvo Group Singapore Country Management Team shared their appreciation of support and expectations for continuous communication and collaboration.

“At Volvo, it is our vision to be the most desired and successful transport and infrastructure solution provider in Singapore and in the world. We hope to bring our Swedish heritage, global technology, proven and tested innovation to Singapore. It will not be possible without an open, dynamic and fair business environment, favorable and supportive policies and regulations. We will work closely with the Embassy and Business Sweden to strengthen the branding of ‘Made in Sweden’ in Singapore together!”, concluded Mats Nilsson, the CMT’s appointed representative in the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and Director of Volvo Buses Asia Pacific Central.