Daikin has announced the appointment of Masaaki Miyatake as its new chairman and president for the Middle East and Africa region.

The global heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC-R) products and solutions provider said in a statement that Miyatake joined Daikin as a sales engineer in Japan more than 30 years ago and was promoted to project sales manager while serving in his home country.

In 2017 he was transferred from Japan to Daikin Europe in Belgium where he worked as the general manager for the Applied Business. In July 2020, he joined Daikin MEA based in Dubai.

The statement added that Miyatake had led an award-winning team that developed an inverter heat-pump modular chiller in Japan. This innovative product won the 2017 “Energy Conservation Grand Prize” and the “Energy Conservation Center Chairman’s Award”.

“Seeking to expand its footprint in key regional markets, Daikin Middle East and Africa will open new affiliates, sales offices and service centres as well as introduce new products to enable us to reach as many customers as possible,” Miyatake said.

“This move will be supported by a stronger business structure and vibrant cooperation with our sales partners and other industry stakeholders. Internally, we will implement continuous career development and relevant skills training programmes to strengthen our teams’ competencies, and to align with our mission to ensure best indoor air quality and deliver comfort through an energy-efficient building climate control solution.”

Miyatake will also oversee efforts to transform the company in line with Daikin’s strategic Fusion 25 management plan.