Nortel Malaysia's general manager, Bernard Chiang, who has been promoted to the regional position as Asia South general manager for its enterprise business, said: "In the Asia Pacific region, we have not filed for bankruptcy protection and Nortel's day-to-day operations will continue without interruption."

"Bernard's in-depth knowledge of the Malaysian market coupled with his years of industry experience will ensure his success in this role," said Nortel South Asia vice president, enterprise, Mark Fioretto. "He has the credentials to take Nortel to the next level of opportunity and growth."

Fioretto said that Chiang would be responsible for strengthening Nortel's position as a strategic technology provider for the company's Enterprise business. "He will lead the Nortel sales and support teams in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia and spearhead strategic business development and customer initiatives. He will also review and expand Nortel's channel partner network to better support our customers in the region."

"Asia is a key market for Nortel, growing 30 per cent year-on-year in 2008 and contributing 21 per cent to Nortel's total revenue in 2008," said Chiang. "We realise this is a challenging environment, but management and employees will remain focused to ensure long-term success of business."