Dr Mark Higgie, the Australian ambassador to Belgium, has met with senior executives from leading fleet software supplier, Sofico, on a tour of several Belgian companies with commercial links to Australia.
Dr Higgie was introduced to the Sofico set-up at the Zwijnaarde Technology Park in Ghent and had an informal discussion about the company’s experiences of doing business in Australia.
Sofico, whose software systems manage more than 1m vehicles worldwide, has extensive Australian links through the office it first opened in Sydney in 2002 in response to demand from a growing Australian fleet and leasing market.
Today, the company’s systems manage over 300,000 cars in Australia and New Zealand for a variety of fleet management and leasing companies, both captive and non-captive.
“We had a very informative conversation with Dr Higgie and discussed the merits and benefits for us in trading Down Under,” said Sofico managing director, Gemar Hompes.
“Since we opened the Australian office, we have slowly taken over the market and are currently the market leader there,” he added.
As a result of its success in Australia, Sofico has made further investment in the Asia-Pacific region and in 2012 opened an office in Tokyo, with the intention of extending its customer base in new countries in the region.
