BANGLADESHI TAKES OVER AS GP CMO FROM JUNE 15

May 18 2015

(Dhaka, 18 May, 2015) Grameenphone Board has named Mr. Yasir Azman as the new Chief Marketing Officer to replace the company’s outgoing CMO Mr. Allan Bonke from 15 June 2015.

Yasir Azman, a Bangladeshi, has 17 years of commercial experience, including 5 years of executive management experience in both FMCG and telecom. He has working experience in various operational and leadership roles in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Moreover, Mr. Azman has played strategic and development role for all Telenor Business Units when he took over as Head of Telenor Group Distribution & eBusiness in January 2013.

Commenting on management change, Grameenphone Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rajeev Sethi, said that “Allan (Bonke) has had a tremendous impact in the market in the last three years and we are very grateful for all his efforts in guiding the company to win in the market place and retain our market leadership. I trust that (Yasir) Azman will bring in previous experience in Bangladesh and his new experiences from India and with the Telenor Group to bring in fresh winds of change and keep us planted and ready for the new market challenges ahead.”

In-coming GP CMO, Mr. Yasir Azman, said he was excited to be back in Grameenphone to work with his colleagues, associated partners and most importantly to serve GP’s customers. “I’m looking forward to be a part of taking Grameenphone to the next level in its ‘Internet for All’ ambition, by building on greater collaborations between key players and exploring the greater digital space.” Allan Bonke, who joined as GP’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) on 5th August 2012, will be taking up a new role within Telenor Group, initially based in the regional headquarter in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mr. Azman primarily comes from a sales and distribution experience and has gradually moved up to the management level positions within Telenor Group. Azman played instrumental role to set up GP sales and distribution organization during the transition period in 2007 and later played strong role in shaping up GP distribution structure as Head of Distribution. He also held the role as Sales & Distribution Director before moving on to work as Circle Business Head and EVP in Uninor in India. In the last few years, Azman has served in Telenor Group as Head of Distribution & eBusiness, working for 13 business units and side by side developed himself with new critical capabilities like digital distribution, customer insights and customer-centricity. He has an MBA from IBA and also attended executive educational programmes organized by London Business School and INSEAD. In his personal life, Azman is married and has three children.

grameenphone