BT looks to step up presence in emerging markets

UK fixed line operator BT is looking to expand its footprint in Asia Pacific, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa (AMEA) by hiring over 400 personnel in key markets in the region.

The firm said that it is looking to launch more competitive services across a larger number of countries to better address the needs of regional multinationals and large domestic players that are increasingly expanding from China and India into the Middle East and Africa.

According to BT, the AMEA region is expected to generate 44 per cent of the global GDP growth by 2025 , with three billion people expected to enter the middle class over the next decade.

Over 400 new staff focused on regional business growth will be placed in key markets including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, the UAE and Turkey.

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The staff will include industry specialists focused on sectors such as logistics, healthcare, consumer packaged goods and financial services and professional services. The recruitment will be additional to the 600 positions announced earlier this year for BT’s Global Development Centre in Bangalore and the approximately 600 hires expected for BT’s new Global Shared Service facility in Kuala Lumpur.

“In 2010 we launched our first phase of investments to accelerate our expansion in Asia Pacific,” said Luis Alvarez, CEO at BT Global Services. “This has allowed us to generate strong growth in the region and to nearly triple the number of new Asia Pacific customers signing with us. We are investing again to further grow our business, in a wider region combining Asia Pacific with Turkey, the Middle East and Africa. We are doing this in close consultation with our customers.”

He added that a new generation of regional multinational companies look to BT to help them grab global growth opportunities, and the more established multinationals are looking to invest for growth in this region.