“As a Swedish company with extensive business in China, we are very proud that we can provide support to the Swedish community during this difficult time,” says Nico Delvaux, President and CEO.

The Asia Pacific division now spearheads a task force to align urgent needs and requirements in areas currently fighting to contain coronavirus transmissions. Within 24 hours of setting up the special team, the 100,000 face masks were secured for the Swedish community.

Meeting the challenges of quickly sourcing the face masks and arranging shipping has been possible partly because of valuable experience gained during the coronavirus outbreak in China earlier this year. When China was at the epicentre of the coronavirus, our business units in other parts of the world pulled together to help.

“With support from local teams, including Malaysia and Australia, the Asia Pacific supply chain pooled resources to source face masks for our colleagues in China when they needed it the most,” says Anders Maltesen, Executive Vice President and Head of the Asia Pacific division.

“It really brought us together. Our culture of collaboration intensified as offices shared local information about the virus, best practices, and face mask suppliers.”

Now with coronavirus infections spreading in countries across Europe and the Americas, our task force in Asia Pacific is sharing lessons learned and mobilising resources to provide critical equipment.

“We’re very grateful to receive vital support from our Asia Pacific division during these uncertain times,” Nico Delvaux says.