By Ron Chen, Correspondent ASEAN Region

The company held its first virtual edition of the conference to reiterate its commitment to partners, customers, and the region; The event featured partners from more than 45 African countries, underlining Canon’s focus on being closer to its customers and strengthening its regional presence.

As the world looks to post-pandemic recovery Canon & Central North Africa’s 2021 edition of their annual Partner Conference reaffirmed the company’s commitment to its customers, partners and the region. Themed ‘Resilience to Thrive’, the event was held virtually for the first time, due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Commenting on the event, Managing Director of Canon Central & North Africa (CCNA) Somesh Adukia said: “Customer focus remains our number one priority and annually we meet with our partners to establish and set goals collaboratively for the year ahead. This ensures our continued prioritisation, as Africa has an immense market potential and we will continue to explore ways to convert it into business opportunities for Canon and our partners.”

The conference was an opportunity for Canon to showcase its ‘Closer to Customers’ strategy, to accelerate new initiatives for additional growth in both B2B and B2C, to further reinforce the network as well as to strengthen organisation and sales channels in country. In addition, and most importantly, frontline staff and partners were acknowledged for their continued service, commitment and amazing resilience as they ensured that service levels remained consistent, despite the effects of the pandemic.

As an experienced brand in a developing market, CCNA is focused on expansion throughout the region, and is committed to ensuring consistent growth with existing Value Business Partners, while simultaneously broadening the scope by increasing partnerships, value propositions, customer and service benefits.

While discussions centred around the pandemic and global disruptions, it was an opportunity for Canon to also reflect on the successes of the past year, and how these anomalies made it incumbent to swiftly respond to the road to recovery. Part of this recovery looks at continuously reviewing the changing digital landscape and how the brand can remain connected with its customers. Canon successfully achieved this by adding value with the launch of new products, and by customising them to suit a range of customers.

In keeping with the global philosophy of Kyosei, which means living and working together for the common good, Canon responded by utilising proprietary technologies to provide global aid and support across all sectors – from contributing to relief for communities, to engaging in activities that support the medical field in the form of equipment and research – as well as providing innovative products and services to support a disrupted workforce.

“We remain at the forefront of digital innovation and will adapt to the needs of our markets, which will include continuing to roll-out many innovative products and solutions. We applaud the success of our partners in a year that changed our lives, and we remain committed to our efforts,” concluded Adukia.