Eying digital economy boost, SAP Malaysia appoints new MD

Business technologies provider SAP has just announced the appointment of industry veteran Duncan Williamson as managing director for Malaysia.

Claus Andresen, president and managing director for SAP Southeast Asia, said Williamson replaces Terrence Yong, who is now moving to a new role within the company.

Andresen added that this internal hire reflects the company’s commitment towards development of its people and leaders.

“Building up intellectual capital and providing opportunities for our employees, including our leaders, have always been our key to success at SAP,” he said.

“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,” explained Andresen.

He said Williamson will be responsible for leading and driving business growth and operations for Malaysia, building on SAP’s presence over the past 25 years in the country.

Landmark year for Malaysia

“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,” Andresen added.

“With the Malaysian government forecasting that the digital economy is set to contribute 20 percent 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,” he said.

“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,” said Andresen.

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 his new role, Williamson sees “greater opportunities ahead for technology players like SAP in Malaysia as the government’s Transformasi Nasional 2050 initiative takes shape.”

“2017 has 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,” he continued.

“I applaud the government’s vision to enhance Malaysia’s reputation as a regional digital hub,” Williamson said. “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.”