US weekly magazine Newsweek appreciates Bangladesh's electric and electronics conglomerate Walton for its growing role in the economic growth and development of the country.
The magazine highlighted the country's development in their recent report, where it mentioned Walton is the corporate pride of Bangladesh whose spectacular growth runs parallel to that of its country, a press release said.
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Golam Murshed, managing director and chief executive officer of Walton Hi-Tech Industries PLC, in an interview published on Newsweek, said that 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.
However, the most important is country branding. Walton is branding Bangladesh as a country of electronics and high-tech manufacturing, he said.
"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," he said.
"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."
Murshed said that without innovation, no enterprise can be sustainable.
"We've had a strong research and development department from the very beginning. 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," he said.
"At the same time, we introduced Bangladesh's first smart refrigerator, television, air conditioner, voice command television and Google-certified Android television."
The US magazine mentioned in its report that the Bangladeshi electronics giant struck a deal with an undisclosed US mobile phone brand to supply its smartphones.
The conglomerate acquired three European compressor brands in April 2022.
It also opened a ground-breaking research and development centre in South Korea this year.
Currently, Walton has a presence in 40 markets with the strongest market penetration in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and West Africa.
Its aim is not only to expand its business and offer high-quality products, but to solidify Bangladesh as a giant in the high-tech industry.