CORRECTION: DAVID TOWNSHEND JOINS KOOHIJI GROUP

David Townshend has joined the Dubai based Koohiji Group as COO of two strategic business units, Globalnet and Komtel. David was a founder member of MTN South Africa and has held the positions of Commercial Director for Celtel Uganda and Executive Head of Regions for Altech Autopage Cellular in South Africa during his 12 year tenure in the mobile operator business.

[ClickPress, Wed Nov 22 2006] The Dubai based Koohiji Group has announced the appointment of David Townshend as COO of two strategic business units. The South African national will handle all operations for Globalnet, the authorized distributors for Motorola in the UAE, and Komtel, distributors for Panasonic in Iran.

“David comes to us with years of valuable experience in handling developing markets,” said Mr SS Rajkumar, CEO Koohiji Group. “He was a founder member of MTN South Africa where he played a crucial role in rolling out MTN’s highly successful Dealer, Retail and Wholesale distribution network and has also held the positions of Commercial Director for Celtel Uganda and Executive Head of Regions for Altech Autopage Cellular in South Africa, during his 12 year tenure in the mobile operator business. He jealously guards the financial bottom-line and makes a habit of regularly exceeding forecasts.”

“I like to keep things simple, and prefer to manage people’s outputs as opposed to their inputs” said Townshend when asked about his leadership style. He explained that his guiding philosophy is “Failing to plan is planning to fail”. Townshend elaborated that given the fast pace of the ever changing telecommunications industry, it is critical to constantly re-evaluate and readjust business plans week on week, month on month, year on year. “There has to be a set of overall guidelines for the business going forward, but one needs to be flexible, adaptable and quick lest opportunities go a-begging.”

He believes strongly in empowering his people to take their own decisions and to learn from their successes – and mistakes. “Top down decision making has its place at times”, he explained, “but in my experience people learn more, grow more and give more when they feel empowered and are able to hold themselves accountable for their actions.”

He is also a skilled negotiator who believes in trying to understand the other persons’ point of view. “I prefer to focus on what is wanted from the relationship, rather than what is wanted from the product,” he said. “If you can understand that, then the negotiations will take their own course.”

David is married to Tracey and they have four children - three daughters and a son.

ABOUT KOOHIJI GROUP:
Based in Dubai, the Koohiji Group was established in 1985 with the objective of developing the markets of Iran and the UAE for international brands. Over the years, the Koohiji Group has developed into an efficient marketing operation with a diverse portfolio of products including telecommunication & office automation products, wireless communication products and HVAC equipment. Enhancing customer care activity, especially in the telecommunication area, is a major area of focus. Koohiji Group operates under five strategic business units - Komtell LLC (Telecommunication), Globalnet LLC (Wireless Communication Products), Technocare LLC (Customer Care), Digital City (Mobile Digital Entertainment Content) and Royal Gulf LLC (Air-conditioning).

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