BANGLADESH

Bangladesh is the eighth country where Singapore-based security company Certis has expanded its operations.

While Certis has a vast array of services from security consulting to a training academy, it has started with the most basic guard service for one client in Dhaka through Millennium Certis, its local front.

Wilson Chow, Certis managing director in charge of consulting and education, said pricing was the trickiest part.

During his brief visit to Bangladesh over the weekend, Chow told , "You could do a lot of fancy things and rack up the prices. But no one would buy the product at the end of the day."

A former major of the Singapore's military reserves, Chow has also been a business consultant for Accenture and PriceWaterhouse Coopers before joining Singapore's largest security company.

Originally an offshoot of the Singapore police, Cisco branched out as the Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation and later became fully privatised.

But it is still owned by the government, under Singapore's investment arm Temasek Holdings, and as such Certis operate as a full-fledged private company. "Meaning that we have to make a minimum level of profit from the Temasek financing," Chow says unwilling to disclose the company's financials.

But Temasek requires a minimum of 20 percent return on investment of its subsidiaries.

Asked if the Bangladeshi security was large enough and mature enough for company like Certis to expand, Chow said he was certain it was, but could not put a specific figure on how big the market is. He guessed it would be 'at least a million dollars'.

But given Certis standards, quality assurance and technology, the company would have to charge a premium on the prevailing market rates. The company commands similar margin over its competitors in Singapore.

Certis happens to be one of the three companies in Singapore that provides auxiliary police force services in Singapore. "Our personnel have the authority to arrest, but only when they are on duty." About three-fourths of the city state's auxiliary police are provided by Certis.

The company provides a similar service in Abu Dhabi as well.

Chow agrees that the company has to maintain high standards to be awarded a licence for armed guard service. And that is the kind of standard that the Certis hopes to bring to Bangladesh.

"It is the assurance and guarantee that our guard post will not remain empty. We make sure that there is back-up and we also make sure that the reserves are equally competent."

Regarding the general tendency to hire former military personnel, or those who have served in some form of law enforcement, Chow says that might not be the case for Certis.

Military officers are by nature aggressive, he says. "But a security guard is not supposed to be aggressive."

"That security guard is also part of your public relations." The former major says Certis stresses on training their guards to take control of a certain situation with their body language and the voice.

"Even for the armed guards, pulling out the gun is the last resort."

Although Certis operates in eight countries, its home operations are still the largest in terms of manpower with 8000 personnel. A fourth of that is deployed in managing the security operations for the entire Changi Airport, which is said to be one of best managed in the world.

Previously there were several service providers. "So one company would be responsible for securing airport's perimeter and another one would be looking after baggage security and so on."

But that was not economical and there were natural problems with coordination with all the different companies. Certis won the 5-year contract and it expires next year. But Chow is hardly worried about the renewal as if it is as good as locked in. "There is no alternative!"

The security company will also be looking into training its personnel at its training academy in Savar, which is still under construction. But whether Certis will be training other security companies has not been decided yet. "Our competitors could then say 'Trained by Certis, half price!' Imagine the tagline."

But it is a possibility that the company would train people locally so they can work for Certis overseas. "Otherwise we have to train the people on site and if we find that certain individuals are not up to the mark we have to ship them back."

That adds to the company's costs naturally but training in Bangladesh would take care of those problems. Besides its operations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, China and Singapore the company already has operations in Dubai besides Abu Dhabi.

A popular destination for Bangladeshi workers, Certis is also looking to expand its operations in Qatar. "We are discussing several countries but Bangladesh and Qatar are the most likely."

Currently Certis is developing its products and deciding on their prices. Given its wide range, the company often bundles services for its clients. "For instance we could bundle some products like CCTV cameras and guarding together." The company will be targeting high end residences, banks and commercial establishments initially, with its services. "We are still working on pricing."

Given Bangladesh's market situation, pricing would be key, Chow says. But only a premium over the prevailing rates would ensure profits. "We are confident of being able to do that and turn a profit from here."

About formally launching the services, Chow says, "It is something that you cannot launch per se. But you start doing it gradually and build up your manpower strength as you go along."

The business, he says, depends largely on reputation, word of mouth and of course the manpower. That is only one of the places where Certis hopes to raise the bar.