NAPERVILLE, Ill. and SHANGHAI, China, Dec. 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nalco (NYSE:NLC), providing essential expertise for water, energy and air, today formally opened a new Asia Pacific center for industry marketing, supply chain, technology development and training located in Shanghai, China. The 6,600 square meter (70,000 square foot), five-story facility located on Da Du He Road is the latest in a series of expansions by Nalco in China that includes a new manufacturing plant that opened in the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park last year.
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"Nalco has a long history in China and we have great expectations for a bright future," said Erik Fyrwald, Nalco Chairman and CEO. "Our goal is to double our number of employees and double sales in China in the next five years, making it our second largest market behind only the United States."
The new facility includes a 1,000-square meter Customer Experience and Training Center which will provide training for new sales engineers as well as customer seminars and training on industrial water and process treatment.
"Our Shanghai office will allow us to bring together the sales, marketing and support functions for China and parts of our Asia Pacific regional operations under one roof," said Eric Melin, Executive Vice President and President, Asia Pacific. "We'll be better able to meet the needs of the growing number of private and state-owned enterprises that make China such an attractive growth market for Nalco."
Reflecting the growth of the paper industry in Asia, especially China, the new Technology Demonstration Center will focus on innovation and customer support to provide papermakers with better solutions for retention, drainage and formation, deposit control, functional areas and water and resource conservation. The new facility will also concentrate on sensors, automation and industrial water treatment working in concert with Nalco technology centers in the United States and Europe.
"Our customers expect us to have world-class development capabilities closer to their new investments so that we can continue to collaborate on technology development," said Mani Ramesh, Chief Technology Officer. "We will be able to recruit and develop highly competent and capable technology teams to serve not only the needs of Asia Pacific but also be a global center of innovation in targeted areas, working closely with Nalco's other technology centers around the world."
About Nalco
Nalco is the world's leading water treatment and process improvement company, delivering significant environmental, social and economic performance benefits to our customers. We help our customers reduce energy, water and other natural resource consumption, enhance air quality, minimize environmental releases and improve productivity and end products while boosting the bottom line. Together our comprehensive solutions contribute to the sustainable development of customer operations. Nalco is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. More than 11,500 Nalco employees operate in 130 countries supported by a comprehensive network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and research centers to serve a broad range of end markets. In 2008, Nalco achieved sales of more than $4.2 billion. For more information visit www.nalco.com.
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This news release includes forward-looking statements, reflecting current analysis and expectations, based on what are believed to be reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected, stated or implied, depending on many factors, including, without limitation: ability to generate cash, ability to raise capital, ability to refinance, the result of the pursuit of strategic alternatives, ability to execute work process redesign and reduce costs, ability to execute price increases, business climate, business performance, economic and competitive uncertainties, higher manufacturing costs, reduced level of customer orders, changes in strategies, risks in developing new products and technologies, environmental and safety regulations and clean-up costs, foreign exchange rates, the impact of changes in the regulation or value of pension fund assets and liabilities, changes in generally accepted accounting principles, adverse legal and regulatory developments, including increases in the number or financial exposures of claims, lawsuits, settlements or judgments, or the inability to eliminate or reduce such financial exposures by collecting indemnity payments from insurers, the impact of increased accruals and reserves for such exposures, weather-related factors, and adverse changes in economic and political climates around the world, including terrorism and international hostilities, and other risk factors identified by the Company. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Company will meet future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. This paragraph is included to provide safe harbor for forward-looking statements, which are not generally required to be publicly revised as circumstances change, and which the Company does not intend to update.
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