Pharmaceuticals Sector - Solvay

10
Message from
Christian Jourquin,
Chairman of
the Executive
Committee effective
May 9, 2006
Solvay Global Annual Report 2005
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,
Effective May 9, 2006 I shall take over as Chairman of
the Executive Committee. In this position I shall be in
charge of the managing the Group to which we are all,
in our various capacities, very much attached.
Let me take the opportunity offered to me in this
Annual Report of addressing each of you directly
and personally.
First of all, it is my duty and my pleasure to render
homage to the work of Aloïs Michielsen, my predecessor
in this fascinating position, who has succeeded so
well in stimulating an entrepreneurial spirit within our
Group. Thank you also to Baron Daniel Janssen, who
piloted our ship during the diffi cult years of the 1990s.
Thank you to all my predecessors who have succeeded,
not only in creating a company, but also in
developing a corporate culture.
After the successes of recent years, the challenge
facing us is to DARE to reach for the future and to
continue to transform the initiatives of each and every
one of us into value for the enterprise and its stakeholders.
It is this value we create together that justifi es
the confi dence that you place in us.
Our commitments to our stakeholders and to
the world around us will continue to guide our action.
The team which Aloïs Michielsen has put together
during these years remains in place and I will make
every effort to merit the confi dence it has placed in
me. Solvay is for all of us a source of legitimate pride.
Together we are continuing the task begun 143 years
ago of perpetuating this sense of pride and leading
the Group towards its future successes.
To DARE the Future...
The strategy we have chosen is clear: to expand faster
in our Specialties - and Pharmaceuticals is one of
them - and to continue to safeguard our leadership,
through competitiveness and innovation, in our base
products, which we refer to as Essentials.
More recently we have clearly affi rmed our intention to
grow more strongly in the fastest growing regions of
the world, and in particular Asia.