SSI expands in Asia Pacific and Latin America

Kien Hoo Yap, who has been with the firm since January, will lead the Singapore office as well as taking responsibility for activities in India, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The Hong Kong operation will be led by Keaton Fong, who was previously senior systems consultant at TNS.

The firm’s president for Asia Pacific, JK Leong, said: “Hong Kong and Singapore have unique research needs. Many businesses have centralised hubs here and it’s important for SSI to be local. We understand client customs and values.”

Meanwhile, SSI has increased the size of its online panels in Latin America to 50,000 in Mexico, 50,000 in Brazil and 15,000 in Argentina. Mauricio Torres Leclerc (pictured), the firm’s managing director for Latin America, said he imagined the panels would grow to 100,000 respondents in each country.

The firm has also added mobile and landline samples to its Mexican offer and a landline sample in Brazil. Jessica Smith, SSI’s general manager for telephone client solutions, said the firm was planning to introduce similar landline samples in Argentina and Costa Rica later this year.