Kuala Lumpur, 3 December 2012 – Axiata Group Berhad, (Axiata), today announced the newest addition to its Board of Directors, Ms Ann Almeida, who is the Group Managing Director, Human Resources and Corporate Sustainability of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited Group (HSBC Group). Ms Almeida has held the above position since 2008 and in 2011, her remit widened to include HSBC-wide corporate sustainability in addition to HR. She is a member of the Group Management Board of the HSBC Group. Ms Almeida will join the Board of Axiata as an Independent Non-Executive Director effective January 2013. The appointment is part of Axiata's ongoing efforts to strengthen its Board whilst at the same time ensuring international and gender diversity at Board level continues.

Ms Almeida, Penang born, holds an MA (Economics) from the University of Cambridge, U.K. as well as an MBA from Imperial College, U.K. has had a long and illustrious career with the HSBC Group which she joined in 1992. Before taking up her present role, she was the Director of HR for the Investment Bank, Transaction Bank, Private Bank, Islamic Bank and Asset Management of the HSBC Group. Ms Almeida has gained much acclaim for her work in nurturing the HSBC Group's performance culture, improving employee engagement, and developing future management across HSBC's 267,000 people around the world.

She also served as a Non-Executive member of the Remuneration and HR Strategy Committees of the London School of Economics from 2003 to 2009. Alongside her role in HSBC Group, she is also currently the Non-Executive Chairman of the Nominations and Human Resources Committee of Jadwa Investments, a Saudi Islamic bank. Ms Almeida also sits as a member of Axiata's Board Nomination Committee, Board Renumeration Committee and Share Scheme Committee, since February 2011.

Axiata Chairman, Tan Sri Dato' Azman Hj. Mokhtar said “Axiata has been strengthening its Board by bringing in world class board members with diverse experience. Her invaluable experience, which extends not only to the Asian region but also globally, will be an important addition to the Board, providing us a fresh perspective as we move towards our goal of becoming a regional champion. We are very happy to welcome Ann as the first female board member into the fold”.

Dato' Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, President & Group Chief Executive Officer of Axiata added “Talent and HR is a key board and management priority and Ann, with her expansive experience from the banking industry alongside her business acumen and expertise in HR matters, will be an invaluable asset towards this agenda. Together with this her notable record of leadership and international background in particular, given Axiata's regional footprint, will be an important addition to the Board. I look forward to working with her to sustain Axiata's high performance culture”.

 

About Axiata

Axiata is one of the largest Asian telecommunication companies. Axiata has controlling interests in mobile operators in Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia with significant strategic stakes in India and Singapore. India represents one of the fastest growing markets in the world. In addition, the Malaysian-grown holding company has a stake in mobile telecommunication operations in Thailand.

The Group's mobile subsidiaries and associates operate under the brand name ‘Celcom' in Malaysia, ‘XL' in Indonesia, ‘Dialog' in Sri Lanka, ‘Robi' in Bangladesh, ‘HELLO' in Cambodia, ‘Idea' in India and ‘M1' in Singapore.

The Group's, including its subsidiaries and associates, has over 210 million mobile subscribers in Asia. The Group revenue for 2011 was USD5.4 billion. The Group provides employment to over 20,000 people across Asia. Axiata's vision is to be a regional champion by 2015 by piecing together the best throughout the region in connectivity, technology and talent, uniting them towards a single goal: Advancing Asia.

Axiata was awarded the Frost & Sullivan 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 Asia Pacific ICT Award for Best Telecom Group and the Telecom Asia Best Regional Mobile Group 2010 and 2011 for its operations in multiple Asian markets.

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