SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced the appointment of Duncan Williamson as Managing Director for Malaysia. In this new role, Williamson will be responsible for leading and driving business growth and operations for Malaysia, building on SAP’s success and presence over the past 25 years in the country. He will report directly to Claus Andresen, President and Managing Director of SAP Southeast Asia.
An 18-year SAP veteran, Williamson joined SAP in 1999 and has held various leadership roles across several board areas within the company. He was most recently Managing Partner for the Nestlé business, one of the biggest global accounts at SAP, where he was responsible for driving and coordinating a multi-year, strategic business relationship with the customer, globally and across all lines of SAP’s business.
Commenting on the appointment, Claus Andresen, President and Managing Director for SAP Southeast Asia, said: “Malaysia holds plenty of growth opportunities for the IT industry in the next few years, as the government clearly outlined its plans as part of Budget 2018 to focus on boosting the Malaysia’s digital economy. With the Malaysian government forecasting that the digital economy is set to contribute 20% of the country’s GDP by 2020, there needs to be concerted efforts and collaborations between the private and public sectors to help both local organisations and multi-national corporations in Malaysia to embrace digitization. SAP has been proudly supporting many of our Malaysian customers’ digital transformation over the past 25 years, and I am confident that under Duncan’s leadership, we will be able to support the country leapfrog into the next stage of digitization.”
Willamson replaces Terrence Yong, who took on the role as SAP Malaysia’s Managing Director in 2015, and is embarking on a new role within the company. “Building up intellectual capital and providing opportunities for our employees, including our leaders, have always been our key to success at SAP. We are constantly enhancing our capabilities and bolstering our leadership in this region to best serve our customer and ecosystem. To this end, SAP would also like to thank the outgoing Managing Director, Terrence Yong for his leadership, vision and contributions, over the past two years,” continued Andresen.
Meanwhile, Williamson foresees “greater opportunities ahead for technology players like SAP in Malaysia as the government’s Transformasi Nasional 2050 initiative takes shape.”
“2017 had been a landmark year for Malaysia, with the government launching a number of key initiatives and announcing several major plans to transform the country’s digital economy. I applaud the government’s vision to enhance Malaysia’s reputation as a regional digital hub. The next few years promise to be exciting for Malaysia, and I am looking forward to collaborating with the government, our customers and partners in the country as we write the next chapter for Malaysia’s digital transformation,” said Duncan Williamson, Managing Director, SAP Malaysia.
