SINGAPORE – In keeping with its ambition to expand and transform the business, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific has appointed Shavkat Berdiev as Vice President and General Manager of Southeast Asia. Shavkat will focus on accelerating growth of the business and brands toward a true convergent media and entertainment company. He will also be responsible for refreshing Discovery’s suite of products to deliver more compelling content to younger audiences.
Based in Singapore, Shavkat will report into Arthur Bastings, President and Managing Director of Discovery Networks Asia Pacific. Shavkat takes over the Southeast Asia portfolio from Louis Boswell who moves into a newly created role as SVP, Distribution for Asia Pacific.
Shavkat moves from Millicom, a sophisticated quad-play telecoms operator, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become Deputy General Manager and Chief Commercial Officer in Tanzania. While at Millicom, he was responsible for driving consumer acquisition and bringing to market disruptive partnerships with Facebook and Google, content apps and device manufacturers – taking a number of Millicom operations to market leading positions. Previously, Shavkat was with Vimpelcom in Central and Southeast Asia where he led their business strategy and regional marketing through digital innovations.
Commenting on the appointment, Bastings said, “As we continue to transform our business in Asia, taking a digital and consumer-centric approach, I am excited to have someone with Shavkat’s experience join our team. His expertise as we navigate our Southeast Asia business into a competitive quad-play distribution market and aggressively develop direct-to-consumer opportunities will be invaluable.”
Shavkat is originally from Uzbekistan in Central Asia, and holds an MBA from Edinburgh University in the UK.
