Tunisia: HP, a talent hunter
1 July 2009
Read by 1611 persons
Sami Smaoui is the General Manager of Hewlett Packard (HP Maghreb)'s Tunisian Go-To-Market entity and heads the Technology Solutions Group for Tunisia. He has just announced HP's strategic decision to establish a global support center in Tunisia, which will be operational from the first quarter of 2010.
Interview:
What is the purpose of the support center you plan to open next year in Tunisia, and what are the reasons behind this choice?
First, let me emphasize that through this center, HP will create 800 new jobs. Thanks to this structure, we plan to provide global support to our clients in the Maghreb region. This center will help us achieve HP's goal of helping companies achieve their business objectives. This is our overall goal, and we are working to contribute to it.
The choice of Tunisia is based on in-depth research into economic conditions and human resource potential in several North African and regional countries. Our decision to make this new investment in Tunisia reflects Tunisia's competitiveness in the global market, a country with a skilled and qualified workforce, an educational environment that promotes a knowledge economy, a political will in this direction, a very adequate infrastructure and economic and social stability. These are the ingredients that a multinational company like HP takes into account when making investments.
This investment also reflects the professionalism shown by the Ministry of Communication Technologies, which has greatly helped us. We are now beginning an important stage of the project, namely the "Job Fair," which will allow us to identify the candidates and skills that can join HP to help us and help HP continue to be a leading company in information technology worldwide. We are convinced that in the future we will form a team of professionals in Tunisia.
What is the profile of the candidates you plan to recruit?
These are mainly graduates of higher education, namely engineers and senior technicians... The company currently has a staff of around sixty employees. This means that we have been very quick in the recruitment process.
What is the nature of your relationship with the public authorities, and what do you expect from them?
When a company like HP decides to open a center like this, it is determined by the general environment and seeks guarantees that allow us to make this center a competitive center. And when we talk about competitiveness, we mean quality of services, continuity of services and everything that goes with it.
Are the skills that will emerge from this center intended for the local market or the international market?
This center will group our activities in Tunisia and neighboring countries in terms of business activities and local support. This will greatly strengthen Tunisia's position, to begin with. But the largest part of this center will be dedicated to supporting European clients, mainly French.
You are opening this center despite the global economic situation!
The fact of opening this center in a context of a difficult international economic and financial situation demonstrates the solidity of Tunisia, but also of HP, which continues to invest, even in times of crisis.
What is your position on the gray market?
The gray market has always existed in Tunisia. We know that it is not illegal, since the gray market is the situation in which a Tunisian company can import components from Europe or elsewhere without going through the official distribution network that is appointed and maintained by HP consultants. If HP products are subject to the gray market, it is because they are also in high demand. And if we resort to products on the gray market, it is because these products do not remain in stock.
We are developing actions to counteract the gray market because the availability of parts, especially when they come from distant production sites, can be compromised. What we are doing is helping our partners with very relevant actions. And then, products like consumables and printers can cause ecological damage. However, environmental constraints and rules are not always respected by small competitors who imitate HP products in terms of ink and derivatives.
Published June 28, 2009
Posted online July 1, 2009
Africanmanager
Interview:
What is the purpose of the support center you plan to open next year in Tunisia, and what are the reasons behind this choice?
First, let me emphasize that through this center, HP will create 800 new jobs. Thanks to this structure, we plan to provide global support to our clients in the Maghreb region. This center will help us achieve HP's goal of helping companies achieve their business objectives. This is our overall goal, and we are working to contribute to it.
The choice of Tunisia is based on in-depth research into economic conditions and human resource potential in several North African and regional countries. Our decision to make this new investment in Tunisia reflects Tunisia's competitiveness in the global market, a country with a skilled and qualified workforce, an educational environment that promotes a knowledge economy, a political will in this direction, a very adequate infrastructure and economic and social stability. These are the ingredients that a multinational company like HP takes into account when making investments.
This investment also reflects the professionalism shown by the Ministry of Communication Technologies, which has greatly helped us. We are now beginning an important stage of the project, namely the "Job Fair," which will allow us to identify the candidates and skills that can join HP to help us and help HP continue to be a leading company in information technology worldwide. We are convinced that in the future we will form a team of professionals in Tunisia.
What is the profile of the candidates you plan to recruit?
These are mainly graduates of higher education, namely engineers and senior technicians... The company currently has a staff of around sixty employees. This means that we have been very quick in the recruitment process.
What is the nature of your relationship with the public authorities, and what do you expect from them?
When a company like HP decides to open a center like this, it is determined by the general environment and seeks guarantees that allow us to make this center a competitive center. And when we talk about competitiveness, we mean quality of services, continuity of services and everything that goes with it.
Are the skills that will emerge from this center intended for the local market or the international market?
This center will group our activities in Tunisia and neighboring countries in terms of business activities and local support. This will greatly strengthen Tunisia's position, to begin with. But the largest part of this center will be dedicated to supporting European clients, mainly French.
You are opening this center despite the global economic situation!
The fact of opening this center in a context of a difficult international economic and financial situation demonstrates the solidity of Tunisia, but also of HP, which continues to invest, even in times of crisis.
What is your position on the gray market?
The gray market has always existed in Tunisia. We know that it is not illegal, since the gray market is the situation in which a Tunisian company can import components from Europe or elsewhere without going through the official distribution network that is appointed and maintained by HP consultants. If HP products are subject to the gray market, it is because they are also in high demand. And if we resort to products on the gray market, it is because these products do not remain in stock.
We are developing actions to counteract the gray market because the availability of parts, especially when they come from distant production sites, can be compromised. What we are doing is helping our partners with very relevant actions. And then, products like consumables and printers can cause ecological damage. However, environmental constraints and rules are not always respected by small competitors who imitate HP products in terms of ink and derivatives.
Published June 28, 2009
Posted online July 1, 2009
Africanmanager
