In his welcome address, N Sankar attributed the success of DIL – which has grown within 8 years of its inception into a market leader in flavours and fragrances – to its adherence to the joint venture philosophy of the Sanmar group. He described DIL’s achievements as a reaffirmation of the group’s values and beliefs. “Initially, we managed the joint venture but when we realized that we did not possess adequate domain expertise, we requested our partners to take over the management and they agreed. Things improved dramatically thereafter” Sankar said.

Sankar described Bernd Kirchhoff, as a world citizen, with rich and varied experience in the field. He drew parallels between the two joint venture partners – both were family owned enterprises, but both as professionally managed as any widely held company.

Bernd Kirchhoff described his Indian partners as sincere people, “loyal partners and true friends.” DIL was now a most preferred supplier. The company believed in sharing and solving customers’ problems. Dragoco’s entry into India in 1994 was well timed, he said, as the economy opened up and many MNCs moved in here. A feature of the Indian venture was the quality of its experienced and educated employees. Some of them were now being transferred to Singapore, and soon they would be shifted to Europe and the US as well. Exports to a wider world market at lower costs were another attractive prospect.