Shankar Annaswamy appointed India/South Asia region head

Mumbai, Jan 09 (UNI) IBM has announced appointment of Shankar Annaswamy as the head of the newly created India/South Asia as its sixth and newest region in Asia Pacific and ASEAN as a stand-alone region, which includes Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Annaswamy has been the General Manager of IBM India since July , 2004.

In his new role as Region General Manager of IBM India/South Asia, Shanker will continue leading IBM's India operations in addition to his region responsibilities and report to Frank Kern, President of IBM Asia Pacific, a Company release here today said.

The ASEAN region, comprising Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and other territories, will be helmed by Ong Hoon Meng, who succeeds DC Chien as the Region General Manager of IBM ASEAN. Ong, who will be based in Singapore, will report to Kern.

''The creation of these two new regions reflects the high growth potential and wealth of opportunities each region avails. Over the years, we have built up enormous wealth of talents in India/South Asia and ASEAN and we can now lower the center of gravity by moving authority and expertise closer to clients and shifting people and investments to the greatest opportunities,'' Kern said.

This development further affirms IBM's strategy to transform into a globally integrated enterprise, reaping benefits for its clients, its business and its shareholders within each region and growing the markets respectively, he said.

Other regions within IBM Asia Pacific are Australia/New Zealand, Greater China Group, Japan and Korea, the release added.

UNI