DSM to Build on Strength …

DSM has presented a new five-year plan designed to carry it through to 2010. In contrast with a similar plan in 2000, DSM Chairman Peter Elver-ding sees no radical reshaping. The company plans, instead, to build on existing strengths to get a targeted 3–5% annual sales growth rate. Among its goals for 2010 are a doubling of sales in China to some $1.2 billion a year and more than $1 billion in annual sales from innovative products, particularly in the areas of biomedical materials, specialty packaging, personalized nutrition, and industrial biotechnology. DSM will also establish a new innovation center in Heerlen, the Netherlands, to be staffed with 250 full-time-equivalent positions.