Daikin Europe celebrates 45 years

BELGIUM: To celebrate 45 years since the establishment of Daikin Europe, the air conditioning manufacturer held a special event last week at the Ostend Casino.

On day one of the two-day event, Daikin welcomed 553 VIP guests including official representatives, clients and partners. The high-profile event saw the participation of key regional civic representatives and dignitaries, Hajime Hayashi, the Japanese ambassador to Belgium and Kazuo Kodama, Japanese ambassador to the European Union. Daikin Industries senior management attending included chairman Noriyuki Inoue, and president and CEO Masanori Togawa.

The day’s programme included performances from national and international artists across a range of mediums ranging from dance and acrobatics to classic piano and pop music, interspersed with keynote speeches. There was also a video address from Charles Michel, Belgium’s prime minister, congratulating Daikin on its success.

The celebrations culminated with the gathering of 2,300 Daikin staff and guests from across the EMEA region on the second day.

In his welcoming speech, Daikin Europe president Masatsugu Minaka said: “Key to our strategy has been the rapid expansion of our R&D activities, supported by a workforce that has increased from 170 employees five years ago to over 350 today. We founded the EMEA Development Centre in 2011. This resulted in the development of many new products that allowed us to pursue new opportunities in the market, for example in heating, with the launch of the new series of the Daikin Altherma series and a new combustion range. Our turnover exceeded the €2bn mark in 2015. Between 2013 and 2017, we achieved 133% growth, with 2018 also set to be a record year.”