In a bid to change perceptions of Greece, a high tech company based in Athens is set to open a facility in Melbourne, Victoria, with the hope that other Greek high tech firms will follow suit.
“Australia may be far away from Greece, but it’s very close in terms of the Greek community and we want to change the perception that tourism and the food industry are the only exports from Greece; this could be the beginning for other Greek high tech companies to come here,” says Christian Hadjiminas, THEON Sensors, president.
Established in 1997, THEON Sensors is an international supplier of night vision technology. While THEON Sensors is the main supplier of night vision equipment to the Greek Army, an international network of customers and partners has been established. It supplies systems to armed forces and police in 12 countries all around the world, out of which 6 countries are NATO members.
“We have two sensors; one is the night vision which is mostly for defence used by security forces and defence forces to conduct night operations,” Mr Hadjiminas explains.
“The other division is micro-mechanical sensors that have medial, aerospace and many other applications.”
He says with the engineering expertise they have in Greece at the moment and the good rates of a recovering economy it’s easier to export and promote the products around the world.
“We always operated out of Athens but always with an export orientation,” Mr Hadjiminas tells Neos Kosmos. Since 2004, the company has been exporting their products outside of Greece.
“We are almost 100 per cent export orientated,” he says.
THEON Sensors have a big contract in Sweden, they export to France, Germany, Belgium, Chile and have contracts in the Middle East in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and in Australia and Indonesia. But he says that Europe is their biggest market because they are “sophisticated” clients.
“We are not on the low end of the market, but we are not expensive, because this is important for the safety of the soldier, for their systems to be properly manufactured, and we are mostly geared towards the most advanced armed forces in the world,” he says.
Mr Hadjiminas explains that THEON Sensors has become one of the top three companies in the world for night vision, with offices in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and the intended manufacturing facility – that will enable the company to maintain their products off-shore – that they wish to set up in the next 4-6 months to cover here and the far east region.
“It’s just the beginning phase and we hope that we will able to send the necessary equipment to set up the manufacturing facility in the next 4-6 months; we have a very good Australian partner here with Aquaterro,” he says.
For more information on THEON Sensors, visit www.theon.com
