Thales announces new international appointments

22 May 2014

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Key points

Thales has been active in Saudi Arabia for 40 years, developing and delivering solutions that have set global standards in the defence, security and ground transportation sectors.
In Africa, Thales has operations in South Africa, Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco and Nigeria. Thales solutions, particularly air traffic control and security systems, are in service in more than 30 African nations.

To further strengthen its international organisation, Thales is pleased to announce three appointments at its International Development Department led by Pascale Sourisse.

Jean-Yves Tolot, previously in charge of the Africa region, becomes Vice President, Saudi Arabia. He will be based in Riyadh and will lead all Thales business activities in this country.

David-Claude Pichavet, VP Export Sales, is in charge of business development for major projects at the International Development Department.

Christophe Farnaud, previously in charge of International Relations, becomes Vice President, Africa.

Jean-Yves Tolot is a graduate of the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po) and the École Nationale d'Administration. He began his career in 1980 at the French civil aviation authority (DGAC) and was temporarily assigned to the Inspection Générale des Finances (Treasury department responsible for auditing public bodies) from 1984 to 1986. He then held various ministerial cabinet posts, focusing on the transportation sector. From 1998 to 2005, Jean-Yves Tolot joins an investment fund, Qualis, before moving to EADS International in 2006 to head up industrial development in emerging countries. Jean-Yves Tolot joined Thales in 2008 and has pursued an international career, successively leading the Group's activities in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. From 2010, Jean-Yves Tolot was in charge of the Africa region.

David-Claude Pichavet graduated from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA-Lyon) and the EM-Lyon business school's Centre d'Études Supérieures du Management (CESMA-Tokyo). He began his career in 1982 with Bouygues Construction in the Middle East and joined Thomson-CSF in 1985 as a project engineer. From 1989 to 2001, he was based at the International Department, where he opened the Group's first representative office in Muscat, Oman, and was subsequently appointed VP for the ASEAN region. From 1997, he was based in Riyadh, leading all Thales civil and military business activities in Saudi Arabia. In 2001, he was appointed Marketing & Sales Director for the Aerospace Division, then in 2007 for the Security Solutions & Services Division. From 2012, David-Claude Pichavet was Vice President, Saudi Arabia, based in Paris.

Christophe Farnaud holds degrees from the École Normale Supérieure, the École Nationale d'Administration, the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po) and the Université Paris-Sorbonne (modern history). He entered a career in the diplomatic service, holding various posts, including in Egypt and Jordan. From 2002 to 2011, he was Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs (2002–04), the Minister for the Interior (2004–05) and the Prime Minister (2005–07). He was France's Ambassador to Greece from 2007 to 2011, when he joined Thales as VP, International Relations.