Amir Rao has been appointed country manager for Microsoft Pakistan. The appointment came into effect in January, 2013 and under this capacity, he will be responsible for managing Microsoft’s operations and driving future growth while building sustainable partnerships with the local IT sector in addition to introducing latest Microsoft innovations to Pakistan. Amir joins Microsoft with 13 years of sales leadership and management experience in the field of telecommunication across Pakistan, Middle East and Africa. Prior to his current role, he was head of business development at Nokia Siemens Network in the African region. Earlier, he had spent eight years at Motorola in the roles of strategic sales development director for Africa and as the country manager in Pakistan. He has also worked with Huawei Technologies as general manager sales and marketing for Pakistan. Amir is said to be well versed with Pakistan’s business and socio-political landscape.