Nokia appoints new chief executive Rajeev Suri

Helsinki- Agence Presse France

The designated President and Chief Executive Officer of Finnish telecom giant Nokia Indian Rajeev Suri (L) is welcomed by Chairman of the Board of Directors and interim CEO of Nokia Risto Siilasmaa at a press conference announcing the company's first quarter results in Espoo, Finland on April 29, 2014. Nokia announced a revenue in the green in the first quarter with a net profit of 108 million euros. AFP PHOTO / Lehtikuva

The 46-year-old, originally from India, has been at Nokia since 1995, and most recently headed up Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN), a joint venture with Siemens now fully-owned by the Finnish group.
    
Following the sale of Nokia's once iconic handset operations to US software giant Microsoft on Friday, its telecom networks business now represent 90 percent of the group's operations.

"As Nokia opens this new chapter, the Nokia Board and I are confident that Rajeev is the right person to lead the company forward," Nokia board chairman Risto Siilasmaa said in a statement.    
 
"He has a proven ability to create strategic clarity, drive innovation and growth, ensure disciplined execution, and deliver results."
 
In a biography published on the Nokia website, the group wrote that Suri had overseen an increase in the value of the telecom networks business to the tune of about eight billion euros ($11 billion).
 
An electronic engineering graduate from Manipal Institute of Technology in southern India, Suri previously held management positions at ICL in India and the construction firm Churchgate Group in Nigeria.    
 
The new chief executive -- who takes up his position on May 1 -- presented his strategy for the future of the telecom group Tuesday and said Nokia was well placed to "tap new opportunities" in a new world of technology "on the verge of a change that we believe will be as profound as the creation of the internet".