Prem Prakash Chand, the newly appointed general manager, customers and marketing operations for emerging Asia of the company, revealed the plan at a press briefing at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday.

Prem will oversee the overall activities in the region from the Dhaka-based headquarters.

The prospective expansion plans for the region include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives, he said.

With an impressing 35 percent global market share, Nokia now plans to set up its production plants in areas closer to where the markets are. As part of the mobile phone giant's global expansion, it has already set up production facilities in different countries including China and India.

Ranked as the sixth largest global brand by Interbrand, the company started focusing on mobile phone in the late 80s. In just 15 years, Nokia's global customer base now numbers to more than 2 billions, Prem Chand said while exchanging views with the local media personnel.

"Mobile phones should be more than just a calling equipment, it should function as a pathway to the future technology," he said, adding that his company will raise awareness among the local consumers to stop buying fake and illegal phones in order to ensure maximum value of a Nokia phone.

Dinesh Subramanian, manager (Communications), Asia Pacific of Nokia, Adcomm Deputy Managing Director Nazim Farhan Chowdhury and Media Director Shamsun Nahar Tareq were also present at the briefing..