Thales appoints new talents to drive growth in South East Asia

New country directors appointed in several countries across South East Asia

Nicolas Bernardin is appointed as Country Director for Vietnam

Massimo Marinzi to lead Thailand and Myanmar as Country Director

Benoit Nalin expands his current portfolio as Country Director overseeing eight countries-- Bangladesh,Bhutan,Cambodia,Laos,Maldives,Nepal,the Philippines,and Sri Lanka

SINGAPORE,Oct. 18,2018 -- South East Asia is a region that is ripe for development. The region's combined GDP per capita increased multifold from $122 in 1976 to $4,021 in 2017. With the amount of natural and human capital that South East Asia possesses,expectations for further growth is high. This plan for growth was mapped out in the ASEAN 2018 development initiative,where technology adoption was one of the two focus areas for the region. Innovation is flourishing as the region readies itself for a smart future.

To continue supporting the long-term development and big ambitions of the South East Asian economies,Thales has announced several new appointments across the region,as it continues to expand its footprint and bolster the region's burgeoning economic development.

Nicolas Bernardin is appointed as Country Director,Thales in Vietnam. With more than 12 years of experience in the organisation,Nicolas is well versed with the value that Thales offers to its clients.

In his new role,Nicolas will lead and drive Thales' growth in Vietnam to support the government's initiatives and to further develop strategic industrial partnerships. He will also continue to sustain the Group's extensive efforts in the country,which involves projects in aerospace,space,defence,transportation and security.

Prior to his current role,Nicolas was a key account manager for Thales' land defence and security business in Indonesia,where he built his business expertise on the region.

Nicolas takes over from Massimo Marinzi,who is now tasked to lead the Thales business in Thailand and Myanmar.

Massimo Marinzi,formerly Country Director for Thales in Vietnam assumed his new role to spearhead the growth and development of the Group in Thailand and Myanmar. He brings close to two decades of experience in developing businesses and strategic partnerships to the table.

Over the last five years in Vietnam,Massimo worked closely with the government and private organisations as he drove the growth of the Thales Group across its five business areas. In his tenure,Thales gained its first foothold into the transportation business with the contract to supply the telecommunications system for the Hanoi Metro Line 3.

In his new position,Massimo will focus on developing Thales' business in Thailand to contribute to the success of Thailand 4.0. For 30 years,Thales has been supporting Thai customers' big ambitions across the defence and civilian arenas as well as developing local expertise and industrial capabilities.

He takes over from Tommy Ayouty,who was Country Director of Thailand,Myanmar,Laos and Bhutan for three years. Tommy returns to Europe to take up the role of Country Director for Denmark and the Nordic and Baltic countries.

Benoit Nalin,current Country Director for Thales in Bangladesh,Philippines and Sri Lanka will expand his leadership portfolio to include Bhutan,Maldives and Nepal.

Prior to joining Thales in 2013,Benoit brought extensive experience in business development from companies including Nokia and Blackberry. In his role as Country Director for Thales in Bangladesh,Thales gained entry into the space industry by winning the contract to supply the Bangabandhu telecommunications satellite in 2015. The satellite,developed by Thales Alenia Space,was delivered in April this year.

Benoit will now be spearheading Thales's business in these countries to complement and accelerate their rapid growth efforts across the civilian and defence industries.

About Thales

The people we all rely on to make the world go round-- they rely on Thales. Our customers come to us with big ambitions: to make life better,to keep us safer. Combining a unique diversity of expertise,talents and cultures,our architects design and deliver extraordinary high technology solutions. Solutions that make tomorrow possible,today. From the bottom of the oceans to the depth of space and cyberspace,we help our customers think smarter and act faster - mastering ever greater complexity and every decisive moment along the way. With 64,000 employees in 56 countries,Thales reported sales of EUR15.8 billion in 2017.