CAIRO, Egypt - January 2011: Leading business software provider SAP announced today the appointment of a new Country General Manager (GM) in Egypt, Amr Ghoneim, to support the company's growth strategy and address the increasing local opportunities. Ghoneim will lead the country team and oversee the company's business, planning and marketing strategy in Egypt.

This appointment represents a significant milestone in the evolution of the SAP business in Egypt and will help the company drive greater focus on the increasingly demanding and expanding customer base and deliver best-in-class customer and partner experiences.

The company will further be expanding its capabilities in Egypt through hiring and developing local talent, bringing global and industry best practices to Egypt, as well as growing its channels and partners ecosystem. SAP will further be moving to new offices in Egypt by March 2011 to accommodate the growing team of sales, pre-sales, consultants, services, and marketing executives.

Sam Alkharrat, Managing Director, SAP MENA said: "These are exciting times for SAP in the Middle East and North Africa region as we plan to expand our footprint and capabilities to become the partner of choice for businesses across the region. We are heavily investing in hiring top talent who are committed to working with government and business leaders to help enable their businesses to become better run."

Ghoneim brings with him more than 20 years of business leadership and industry expertise, mostly in Egypt. He has most recently served as the Regional Client Executive of IBM MEA. Prior to that, he held the position of General Manager of IBM Egypt where he was responsible for driving the company's performance, developing their customer and partner network, as well as driving key strategic initiatives with the Egyptian Government to support the country's national agenda.

"Amr Ghoneim's track record of delivering significant customer value and growth, as well as his deep expertise and market insights, will be instrumental as we embark on our next wave of growth in Egypt and across the MENA region," continued Alkharrat.

Ghoneim said: "MENA represents one of the fastest growing markets within SAP, largely due to the solid and progressive foundation already established, and Egypt forms an important hub for SAP's operations in the region. I am delighted to take on the role and build on SAP's achievements by continuing to place the customer at the center of SAP's endeavors, expand our local ecosystem and extend the company's role as a contributor to the Egypt's economic development vision,"

SAP established direct presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in 2007. Over the past three years SAP has more than quadrupled its initial investment and number of employees in the region and the next phase of development focuses on further accelerating growth in specific key territories such as Egypt.

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Claire McPeak, +971 4 330 1777, c.mcpeak@sap.com