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Defined By Diversity
 Involved
in agricultural inputs and technology, information technology, household hygiene,
heavy machinery, projects, construction and the trading business, our Group has
succeeded in making diversity its strength.
Our success lies in our diversity, which contributes immensely to the growth of
the Group. Each year, a different division sees the most success. If one division
has a bad period, there is always another that is doing
well. On one hand our diversity,
and on the other hand our Group's entrepreneurial spirit has led to its sustained
success over the years. Our entrepreneurial instinct led us to open up a branch
in Afghanistan a few years ago, although we have been doing business in Afghanistan
since almost a decade. More recently, we opened a branch in Tokyo. In the last 18
months, we have executed contracts with JICA and supplied machinery and commodities
to countries like Honduras, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Cambodia through our office
in Japan.
We have been constantly examining the market to find new product and service areas
to become involved in, and try to be innovative by going after new ideas which are
emerging in the international market. For example, we have started exploring alternative
energies, like solar power and wind. We are identifying principles in this area
of activity and are hoping to bring in new business activities to replace traditional
areas. We are always looking for new principles and have been quite successful in
our endeavour to identify and establish partnerships around the world.
An important management tool for the Group has been its use of strategic planning.
Today, we have a vision for 2020 which enables us to identify and evaluate new possibilities.
Alternative energy is one area identified, and agriculture
being one of our major
fortes, we are looking at Jatropha, which is a potential source of oil for fuels
like biodiesel. We also plan to get involved in the Biogas business. There are different
ideas we are working to see how we can develop these
into our mainstream activities.
We have recently established a joint venture with some major sugar manufacturers.
Our Group will assist them with getting involved in corporate farming, which is
where we feel we can add significant value while applying our specific expertise.
All these ideas are aimed at maintaining our diversity and increasing our productivity.
We are well aware of our responsibilities and obligations as good corporate citizens,
mainly involved in the education and health sectors by initiating and establishing
respective NGOs. We have participated in setting up a lot of primary and secondary
education centres around the country and are also looking to set up vocational training
institutions through an NGO whereby helping to create an educated and skilled work force. We feel very proud of the fact that, while we earn, we are also able to give
back to the society in which we operate.
Our Group has always operated with the aim of enabling the country to grow economically
by providing essential services to the country's industries, and its combination
of instinctive entrepreneurship and diversity of activity will stand it in good
stead for years to come.
Sincerely,
NASSER N. S. JAFFER
CEO & Group Chairman
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