With a GDP expected to be at 9 % this year, and the seventh largest foreign exchange reserves in the world, India has turned into the second fastest growing economy in the world and is bound to become an engine of global growth. The advent of economic reforms in 1991 has set a new pace of growth for India, accelerating progress across sectors and expanding into new areas. Exports have peaked at $189 billion in 2008-2009. This trend was obviously of much interest to Velogic, which offers air and ocean freight services for import and export,customs brokerage services, as well as transportation and warehouse services.

“We provide our customers with the most comprehensive logistics solutions in the industry”, highlights Nawaz Gobindram, Regional Manager of Velogic for the Indian Subcontinent. “We work closely with our partners to customize their global supply chain with improved transit times,  cost efficient service and complete customer satisfaction”. Velogic is present in India since 2006.  It was then initially set up as a joint venture of Rogers and another local company, with two offices; one in Delhi and one in Mumbai, totalling a staff of 10 persons. By then, the customer base was mainly textile-oriented and the main market was France.

In 2009 Velogic India was set up as a 100 % owned Rogers enterprise. Ever since, it has experimented a steady growth in staff from 10 to 30 employees and now has 5 agencies in the country. It has diversified its products as well as its customer base to include automotive, pharmaceutical and electronic goods. During the last two years Velogic India has acquired extensive experience across many vertical markets.

At present, Velogic India is concentrating most of its efforts on the African trade lane. “We believe that trade between India and Africa will grow tremendously and being a Mauritian MNC we have an edge with the expertise we got”, emphasizes Nawaz Gobindram. India is the strategic place to be and Velogic has perfectly understood this challenge. In only five years, it has consolidated its presence in five strategic Indian cities and enlarged its customer base.

The logistic sector of Rogers takes a new direction.

Following the departure of Ian Claxton, Vishal Nunkoohas been appointed new Chief Executive Officer since the 1st of July 2011. With the collaboration of his Management team, he is now gearing the new orientation of Velogic, which is to extend its global reach. This will be achieved by operating on a regional structure in order to allow for greater synergies within regions. A Shared Service approach of the Finance function, headed by the newly appointed Chief Finance Officer,Naveen Sangeelee since the 1st of May, will also help to achieve further regional ambitions.This shift in focus at Velogic stems from the need to be more oriented towards regional and international business development. Indeed, the company is positioning itself to become an even bigger regional player. This new orientation brings along several changes, mainly in the responsibilities of the former Country Managers. They will now occupy Regional portfolios and their respective job titles have been changed accordingly. André deComarmond, appointed Regional Manager – Indian Ocean, will oversee the activities in Mauritius,Reunion, Madagascar and Mozambique; Gilles Kaba is the Regional Manager – Europe and Nawaz Gobindram is now Regional Manager for the Indian subcontinent.

Along with overseeing an enlarged geographical territory, the various actors are also expected to broaden the scope of their respective activities.This, says Vishal Nunkoo “will allow Regional Managers to have a bigger perspective for development instead of only fighting hard to gain market share in a limited and slow growing territory, particularly in our traditional markets like France and Mauritius,where the GDP growth and goods movements are far from being the highest. They will also have the responsibility of identifying new opportunities and working out synergies within our network to enhance the competitive advantage of Velogic.”

Other appointments have led to a few changes in the organisational structure. Denis Hung is now Chief Processes & Systems Officer and also Country Manager for Mauritius (Freight Forwarding,CBS, TNT and land side activities). Vincent Pilot is the Chief Marketing Officer and Bertrand Abrahamis appointed Chief Human Resources Officer. As for Vivian Olivier and Sylvain Lavénérable, they remain Managers of Ship Agency Services and Sukpak Ltd respectively.The Finance function has undergone major changes with three newly defined functional areas :Financial Management, Financial Accounting and Financial Planning, Reporting & Analysis. These positions will be held respectively by Vincent Avrillon, Yusuf Peeraullee and Ruben Rangasamy and they will report directly to the Chief Finance Officer,Naveen Sangeelee. This Shared Service aims at operating as an integrated platform within the group with a view to create a greater synergy among the different business units and outstations.With the creation of a one-stop shop and the international expansion, there is a need for rationalisation in the accounting processes across all entities.Re-engineering the reporting process is also seen as a means to improve reliability and timeliness.Hence, the finance support of the outstations will develop a reporting line which will be accountable to Yusuf Peeraullee for Financial Accounting matters,and will work closely with the other Finance Functions.Enhancing procedures and processes in key areas such as Accounts Receivable, Working Capital Management will help improve financial control.