GAC Eyes Opportunities in Disrupted Market

Dubai-headquartered GAC said it has maintained a solid balance sheet despite slumps in key markets such as shipping and oil and gas. During a conference of GAC company managers in Dubai, Ekstrand outlined the group’s approach for the next five years. 

“Disruptive forces are reshaping our markets almost on a weekly basis but in the process, new opportunities for growth are coming into view,” Ekstrand said.

“Companies that are willing to rethink their business models, put their customers first, and take advantage of new technologies will find ways to prosper in these turbulent times.”

“The challenge is to evolve in a smart way and not throw out important values that have served GAC for 60 years,” Ekstrand added.

GAC has continued to invest in capital assets such as vessels and warehouses in key locations around the world despite the difficult conditions. In 2016, total investment commitments have reached more than $65 million.

“We need to keep our focus on the long term,” Ekstrand said. “It’s important not to get swept away by the disruptive forces in our markets and start making wholesale changes just for short-term effects.”

“Here in Dubai, we’ve broken ground on a new distribution center and similar developments are under way in Indonesia and Thailand,” Ekstrand said. “We’ve entered a joint venture for operating a container terminal in Cyprus, and we have ordered five new vessels for our Marine fleet.”

Ekstrand explained that the biggest challenge was to ensure the skills, values and attitudes of GAC management and staff were kept strong and responsive to changing market conditions.

“GAC is known worldwide for going the extra mile for customers and for maintaining strong and clear ethical and compliance practices,” he said. “We have to keep our ‘can-do’ attitude to the fore while exploring ways to ramp up our use of smart technologies that deliver increased efficiency to our people and increased value to our customers.”