Two new members join Samena's Board of Directors

Welcoming the new members on-board, Bocar A. Ba, President of Samena said: "Samena Telecommunications Council plays a very important role in encouraging the sharing of knowledge and experience between its members, promoting partnerships and facilitating the expansion and growth of the telecommunications industry in the South Asia, Middle East and North Africa region. The role that the directorial board members play has tremendous importance and significance in achieving these objectives. The Council and the telecommunications industry in general are bound to benefit from the experience and expertise of these two distinguished industry professionals."

Nayla Khawam, a graduate in Statistics and Economics from National Institute of Statistics and Economic Administration and in Mathematics from Université de Paris VI, has extensive experience in the field of telecommunications.

She has served as a member of the Executive Board at Orange France and was the Head of Customer Services for mobile phones. In 2005 she was appointed the Head of Customer Services for landline, mobile and Internet for the whole FT Group in France in addition to various positions in distribution and human resources. In 2007 she was appointed the Territorial Director for Ile de France (Paris Region) in charge of commercial and technical departments for mass market and business clients.

Dr. Amer Awadh Al-Rawas, a PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from Sussex University in UK, has held various senior positions in the telecom and academic sectors in addition to serving in various educational and technological policy forums in Oman and regionally.

Al-Rawas is a member of The Higher Education Council, the Government's policy making body on all higher education and research matters and The National Accreditation Council, the Government body responsible for higher education quality assurance among others.

Prior to joining OmanTel as the CEO, he served as the Managing Director of Oman Mobile. Winner of the NTI BizPro Business Leader of the Year Award in 2008, Al-Rawas has conducted extensive research on the role of ICT in Economic Development, Socioeconomic and Demographic Drivers for Economic Growth.

Thomas Wilson, CEO of Samena added:

"The Council and the entire directorial board is very pleased with the addition of Nayla Khawam and Dr. Al-Rawas and we are certain that they will add an enormous amount of value to all our existing initiatives and help in the further development and enhancement of the telecommunications industry in the region."