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AFP's Asia Sales Chief receives Legion d'honneur
AFP’s Asia-Pacific Sales and Marketing Director Mervin Nambiar has been awarded France’s highest civilian honour, the Legion d’honneur.
Malaysian-born Nambiar began his career as a journalist with Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama and joined AFP in 1976.
He served as bureau chief in Malaysia and Singapore before becoming regional sales chief in 1995.
‘Mervin has played a pivotal role in keeping AFP to the forefront of the Asian market,’ said AFP chairman Emmanuel Hoog.
‘Not only has he developed our position in traditional markets, he has shown great innovation in meeting the challenges of the digital age.’
Nambiar, who is based at AFP’s regional headquarters in Hong Kong, is a well-known figure in Asia media circles.
Asia-Pacific director Gilles Campion paid tribute to his professional and personal qualities:
‘Mervin’s unparalleled knowledge of the Asia-Pacific region, combined with his exceptional charm and communications skills, have helped put AFP in pole position in this region.
‘He was largely responsible for engineering and driving the growth of AFP’s powerful regional sales network which transformed our business – a remarkable achievement.’
Nambiar was a driving force in key projects such as launching the news website AFPBB in Japan and launching a partnership with the leading Japanese fashion school Bunka.
He has also taken a lead role in developing AFP’s presence in the Chinese market.
Nambiar’s commercial creativity and his commitment to AFP’s global and multi-cultural mission were the main factors in his designation as officer of the Legion d’honneur.
About AFP
AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,260 journalists spread across almost every country, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages. AFP delivers the news in video, text, photos, multimedia and graphics to a wide range of customers including newspapers and magazines, radio and TV channels, web sites and portals, mobile operators, corporate clients as well as public institutions.