ISLAMABAD – VimpelCom (NASDAQ: VIP), a leading global provider of telecommunications and digital services headquartered in Amsterdam and serving over 200 million customers, announced on Friday the opening of Global Services Pakistan in Islamabad, one of three new Global Shared Services Centers to be introduced.
Global Shared Services (GSS) is part of VimpelCom’s strategy to transform its operating model by reducing operational complexity to create a world class company. Through GSS, VimpelCom will centralise and simplify transactional activities for its Procurement, Finance, and Human Resources functions across the Group’s 13 operating companies. Global Services Pakistan will provide services to VimpelCom’s operating companies in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Amsterdam, and aims to employ 400 people.
Andrew Davies, Chief Financial Officer at VimpelCom, said: “We continue to make good progress in delivering on our transformation program to reinvent the company as a leaner, agiler, and truly digital player. We are globalising our operations to leverage the strengths of the Group and to improve our efficiency. With the establishment of Global Shared Services, our operating companies will be able to focus on their core operations, creating the right platform to develop innovative, high-quality services that will improve our customers’ lives.”
The locations of the three Shared Services Centers have been carefully selected to accommodate different time zones and languages across VimpelCom’s geographic footprint, as well as to spread technical and security risks.
Aamir Ibrahim, CEO Mobilink & Warid Pakistan, said: “This is a proud moment for us that Islamabad was chosen to be one of the three global destinations, where the GSS facility was to be built to not only provide back office support to Jazz but also to VimpelCom’s business unit in Bangladesh and its head office in Amsterdam. The Center’s launch for us means that we can enhance our focus on the local market and customers while increasing the productivity and sustainable quality of operations as GSS matures.”
Global Shared Services Centers will also be opened in Islamabad, Pakistan and Yaroslavl, Russia. GS Ukraine will provide services to VimpelCom’s businesses in Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and will employ 900 people. The company’s existing service centre in Yaroslavl, Russia will be incorporated into the Global Shared Services organisation to become Global Services Russia. The Center aims to employ 2,000 people and will serve the Russian region.
