Microsoft held its third annual Southeast Asia New Markets Partner Summit, bringing together 160+ regional/global partner leaders from 14 markets consisting of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The two-day session, which was held in Thailand, gave partners the opportunity to engage with Microsoft’s regional leadership team on the company’s mission, business priorities and innovative product and service offerings. ‘We are better together’ was the theme of the conference, where representatives from Microsoft reinforced their company’s vision for the region and the role partners must play.

The agenda included topics on industry trends, FY19 priorities, product and solutions overviews and modern partner transformation journeys. The highlights of the summit were the partners from the Microsoft ecosystem who had transformed from transactional to innovative partnerships with the help of domain expertise, solutions and co-selling with Microsoft—giving partners access to customers in any part of the world.

“What makes Microsoft unique is our focus on empowering people and organizations, worldwide, in every industry, in every vertical, in every country,” said Sook Hoon Cheah, General Manager for Southeast Asia New Markets, Microsoft Asia Pacific. “Microsoft has always been a partner-led company, and this ecosystem drives local economies and creates massive growth. Together we have unprecedented opportunity to help emerging countries become globally competitive. As our mission aims to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, our investments in the areas of security and accessibility are aimed at making our mission a reality.”

“Moving away from transactional partnerships to transformative partnerships is the way forward,” said Anh Pham, Chief Partner Officer for Southeast Asia New Markets, Microsoft Asia Pacific. “As our CEO said, what binds us together is not our success, it's the success that our customers achieve. To ensure our customers succeed and achieve above and beyond, our partners will start their transformation journey keeping customers at the center. To enable greater engagement, transparency and reach, partners will embrace partnerships that inspire innovation and transformation.”

For the third consecutive year, Microsoft organized the South East Asia New Markets Partner Awards to recognize exceptional performance in the FY18. The annual awards recognized top Microsoft partners in demonstrating excellence in innovation and helping customers embrace digital transformation with Microsoft technology.

“I’m proud to recognize this year’s partner winners from the region which represent the best and most dynamic innovators coming out of our partner community,” said Hasitha Abeywardena, Country Manager, Microsoft Sri Lanka and Maldives. “These companies are helping businesses and the larger society reach new heights fueled by cloud, artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and IoT (Internet of Things) in the near future.”