Anil Menon is the UAE country manager for the US science company DuPont. He talks about the company's operations in the Emirates and how it is banking on its pedigree in innovation.
q DuPont opened its second office in the UAE in 2008. How have you attracted customers?
a Oil and gas is obviously a mainstay of the Abu Dhabi economy, so obviously we are building bridges with the … sector, but we are also looking at expanding into the real estate companies, the metro, the carbon-neutral city, etc.
q How long do you think it will take you to get the Abu Dhabi office fully up and running?
a It's a work in progress. We are adding people. We have grown from a very small number to a pretty significant number in the GCC, so it's difficult to put a date on it … but at some stage in the future we will broaden our horizons … It's not going to happen overnight, but I think we are getting there.
q How much of the innovation at DuPont happens here on the ground?
a You talk to customers here and understand what their local needs are and then tweak products … to meet their needs. So maybe the innovation is done somewhere else in our research and development labs. But a lot of work is done here to really understand what the customers requirements are.
q There is a lot happening here in the UAE, so do you have any plans to open a research and development centre here?
a It's early days for us, but yes, we are thinking in terms of things like innovation and training centres we might consider in the future.
q DuPont is very strong in alternative energy. Are you doing any work with Masdar?
a We have been talking to Masdar, but we have not had announcements to make.
q What would you like to do for Masdar?
a Masdar is a very ambitious project. Carbon-neutral really fits in with our philosophy. We have been exploring various things and we can do a lot of stuff around building an infrastructure … [which is] one of our core activities. So the kind of work that Masdar is doing really fits in with our philosophy and theme, but we are still at an exploratory phase at the moment.
* Gillian Duncan