appointment launches next phase of growth in the Saudi market
Orange Business, the business services arm of France Telecom-Orange, has named Mr. Laurent Marini as its Country Manager and General Delegate Arabia for Orange Business in Saudi Arabia. Laurent Marini will also serve as Managing Director of Orange Business Arabia (the local company established in Saudi Arabia by Orange Business) and as a Director of the board of Orange Business Arabia. He will lead the Orange commercial teams in Saudi Arabia, covering strategy to operations.
Laurent Marini brings more than 15 years of commercial leadership in the telecoms sector, including from senior positions in Saudi Arabia and Jordan for organisations including France Telecom-Orange Group, Lucent Technologies and Devoteam. He most recently held the position of Vice President Business Services at ITC in Saudi Arabia.
Laurent Marini graduated from the Telecom SudParis (France) and holds a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications & Information Systems Engineering, a Master in Marketing and Business Management from University of Paris Sud (France), and completed executive leadership courses from Cranfield School of Management (UK) and EM Lyon Business School (France).
Part of France Telecom-Orange, Orange Business launched Orange Business Arabia, its local company in Saudi Arabia in April 2012, to focus on the key areas of Smart Cities, telecom operator transformation, and large infrastructure projects, in addition to serving the multinational companies that operate in the Kingdom. This was followed late last month with an announcement of a partnership agreement with Saudi Business Machines (SBM), a leading systems integrator. The agreement established a platform for the two companies to cooperate as preferred partners on bids for major ICT projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to jointly identify and bid for major projects in the rapidly expanding ICT market there.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr Jean-Luc Lasnier, Vice President and General Manager, Middle East and Africa, Orange Business, said: “The first year of operation for Orange Business Arabia has been very encouraging and well received by customers. Laurent Marini will lead the next phase of our development as we continue to build our business ecosystem and drive growth in the market.”
France Telecom-Orange has more than 2,000 people working on the business-to-business market in the Middle East and Africa. As part of the Group, Orange Business supports enterprise customers across the strategically important Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states from the Middle East and Africa regional headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
About Orange Business
Orange Business, the France Telecom-Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is a leading global integrator of communications solutions for multinational corporations. With the world's largest, seamless network for voice and data, Orange Business reaches 220 countries and territories with local support in 166. Offering a comprehensive package of communication services covering cloud computing, enterprise mobility, M2M, security, unified communications, videoconferencing, and broadband, Orange Business delivers a best-in-class customer experience across a global landscape. Thousands of enterprise customers and 1.4 million mobile data users rely on an Orange Business international platform for communicating and conducting business. Orange Business was awarded three of the telecom industry’s highest accolades at the annual World Communication Awards 2012 – Best Global Operator, Best Cloud Service and the User’s Choice Award. Orange Business is a five-time winner of Best Global Operator. Learn more at www.orange-business.com
France Telecom-Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with annual sales of 43.5 billion euros and has 170,000 employees worldwide at Dec. 31, 2012. Orange is the Group's single brand for Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the company operates. France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange.
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange Brand Services Limited, Orange France or France Telecom.
Press Contact
Jonathan Walsh, WPR (ME) Limited, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, jon@wprme.com, +971 50 4588610