GOLAM MURSHED

MANAGING DIRECTOR & CEO, WALTON HI-TECH INDUSTRIES PLC.

“Walton is branding Bangladesh as a country of electronics and high-tech manufacturing.”

What role does Walton play in the Bangladeshi economy?

Walton saves enormous amounts of foreign currency by producing import substitute products, creates significant employment along with backward linkage industry and contributes to export earnings. And we expect that our market growth will increase to over 25% year on year in 2023. However, the most important is country branding. Walton is branding Bangladesh as a country of electronics and high-tech manufacturing.

How much of a priority is environmental sustainability?

Walton is very much committed to protecting the environment. We don’t use hazardous substances that harm the environment. Walton is also the first enterprise in the world to successfully implement Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) and Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) phase-out projects. Less energy consumption means less environmental pollution, which is why Walton also continues to produce more energy-efficient products. At the same time, we use environmentally friendly refrigerants in our compressors and are implementing more renewable energy for our production.

What role does innovation play in your company’s strategy?

We design and develop our products according to consumers’ needs. We introduced Bangladesh’s first smart refrigerator, television, air conditioner, voice command television and Google-certified Android television. At the same time, we made the world’s first offline voice command air conditioner and the first-ever air conditioner that features Bluetooth, air plasma and 3-in-1 converter technology. We’ve had a strong research and development department from the very beginning. Without innovation, no enterprise can be sustainable.