Bosch inaugurates first Sri Lankan office

21 October 2015 06:30 pm Views - 3221

Bosch Group India President Dr. Steffen Berns (centre left), German Ambassador Dr. Juergen Morhard (centre right) and other officials being given a demonstration on a Bosch power tool by Bosch Power Tools Representative Nishant Niraw
Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana

By Chandeepa Wettasinghe
German technology and services supply giant Bosch inaugurated its first Sri Lankan office at the Orion City yesterday.
“The inauguration of our new office marks an important milestone for our business expansion in the South Asian region. We look to further increase our footprint in Sri Lanka as it emerges to be an important growth market for our business,” Bosch Group India President Dr. Steffen Berns said.
He added that the current sales figures from Sri Lanka are in the “few millions” and Bosch expects the figure to double within three years. 
Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC (DIMO) has been the Bosch dealer in Sri Lanka for over four decades but with the increasing opportunities available in Sri Lanka, Dr. Berns said that a resident office is required.
However, he stressed that Bosch will continue to deal with customers through DIMO and its present dealer network.
Dr. Berns added that the initial investment for the new office is US $ 1 million, and the company will set up an automotive aftermarket training centre in 2016, and increase its presence in the country’s top 10 cities by setting up 60 workshops by the year 2021—both in collaboration with DIMO.
“We expect good double-digit growth rates in our different fields and depending on the business developments we’re going to invest further and decide the next steps,” he added.
In addition to automotive aftermarket solutions such as steering, multimedia and electrical systems, Bosch has large operations in household and industrial grade power generation including solar and thermal power, security systems, and consumer goods such as power tools.
The company has identified shipbuilding, construction, woodworking and manufacturing as its core pillars in Sri Lanka going forward.
Dr. Berns said that Bosch has been involved with massive government projects locally indirectly, and will contemplate entering the tender processes for future government projects as well.
“We have been in a lot of big projects—typically not on the first level but in the tier two level. Therefore, so far we have not had large government projects. Whenever there are tenders and we think we can offer good solutions, we will do so, and with our own office here it will be much simpler,” he added.
The Sri Lankan arm Robert Bosch Lanka (Private) Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bosch group.