Hitachi Asia Ltd on Thursday announced the appointment of Kazunori Sudo as general director of Hitachi Asia (Viet Nam) Co Ltd.

His responsibility is to grow operations and expand Hitachi’s Social Innovation Business in Viet Nam.

Sudo will succeed Akihito Ando, who is assuming the role of general director, Hitachi Elevator Viet Nam Co Ltd. Ando will continue to support Hitachi Asia (Viet Nam) Co Ltd as executive advisor.

Both appointments will be effective from the beginning of next month.

Sudo most recently served as general director of Hitachi Plant Technologies (Viet Nam) Co Ltd and has been proactively expanding business opportunities in the past two years. Under his leadership, the company overcame insolvency in 2015 and achieved a profit ratio of more than 8 per cent in 2016. It also entered into the new markets of IT and water treatment.

With 20 years’ experience, Sudo is an expert in the chemical industry and independent power generation field. He also has a decade of experience in business planning and development under his belt.

He began his career with Hitachi in 1985 after graduating from Tokyo-based Hitotsubashi University’s Faculty of Social Sciences. — VNS