Samena (South Asia, Middle East, North Africa) Telecommunications Council, the tri-regional telecommunications consortium has appointed Shaikh Mohamed Bin Isa Al Khalifa, Group CEO of Batelco, as its new chairman.

Shaikh Mohamed  was unanimously elected by Samena’s board of directors.

Announcing the Samena board’s decision to elect Shaikh Mohamed as its chairman during ‘Convergence to Doha 2011’, Thomas Wilson, CEO and executive managing director of Samena, said: “Shaikh Mohamed, through his experience and knowledge will help realise the vision of Samena, as the council continues to grow its member base gains recognition throughout the South Asia and Mena regions.

“Guided by his leadership, capabilities and excellent knowledge of the region’s telecommunications industry, different industry players and regulatory agendas, we hope to continue the great work done under our ex-chairman Eng Saud Al Daweesh and achieve more success and continue adding value to our members and the industry at large,” he said.

Shaikh Mohamed said he was delighted and honoured to be chosen to chair the council and very much looked forward to collaborating with its members to push their collective goals and aspirations forward.

“Digitisation will be the key driver of sustainable economic growth across the region. All the members of Samena look forward to co-operating and accelerating digitisation trends which will enable all industries to deliver benefits to our societies and economies,” he said.

Prior to his appointment as group CEO, Shaikh Mohamed was the deputy chairman of Batelco board of directors from 2002 to 2011. He was also the CEO of the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) which was formed by the merger of the General Organisation for Social Insurance and the Pension Fund Commission in 2008.  Prior to this merger, he was the director general of the General Organisation for Social Insurance in Bahrain since 2005, a statement from the company said.

He commenced his work with the General Organisation for Social Insurance in Bahrain in 1989 and has held several senior positions such as the director of the finance and investment department from 2002, and foreign investment portfolios manager and investment analyst.

In addition, he has represented SIO in several portfolio company boards in different capacities such as chairman at the Securities and Investments Company (SICO), vice chairman at Batelco, Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait and Bahrain International Golf Course Company, as well as the post of director at Bahrain Commercial Facilities Company, it said. – TradeArabia News Service