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IBM plans to relocate Mideast office to Dubai

Global computer major BM is studying plans to move its Middle East headquarters from Vienna to Dubai, Austrian newspaper Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten reported.

  • By Arno Maierbrugger, Sub-Editor
  • Published: 00:48 March 29, 2008
  • Gulf News

Dubai: Global computer major IBM is studying plans to move its Middle East headquarters from Vienna to Dubai, Austrian newspaper Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten reported.

The headquarters has been located in the Austrian capital for more than two decades, together with operations for Austria, Switzerland, Eastern Europe and Africa, generating annual sales of approximately two billion euros.

According to the newspaper report, IBM is planning a "strategic reorientation", which includes splitting up Eastern European operations from those for Middle East and Africa.

While the European part may move to Bratislava, the capital of neighbouring Slovakia about 40 kilometres from Vienna, the Middle East and Africa operations could be settled in Dubai, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Jobs

IBM currently employs 1,900 people at its Vienna office. Around 450 of them are supposed to move to the new locations, mostly senior level managers.

IBM Austria spokesman Georg Haberl declined to comment on the report, saying that IBM in Austria has not been informed about any changes yet.

"We don't know ourselves what the global headquarters is planning," he said.

Shift

But Haberl reminded of several statements made by IBM chief executive Samuel J Palmisano, who announced a reorientation of IBM in the world's emerging markets at several occasions during the last months.

IBM employees in Vienna are about to be informed about the changes by an internal note later this week, Nachrichten said citing sources from within the company.

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