New President and CEO of Canon Europe

Canon, one of the leading companies in digital imaging technologies, has appointed a new President and CEO to head its European headquarters in the person of Ryoichi Bamba. From February 1, Bamba took over as chairman and CEO from Hajime Tsuruoka, who had previously held the post for 7 years.

Ryoichi Bamba came from Canon’s U.S. subsidiary, where he oversaw the marketing activities of Canon’s Office Solutions product group as Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Imaging Systems Group.

Building on its experience in the international market in its new position, it aims to promote the continued growth of Canon Europe in all business sectors, in all markets. In 2007, Canon Europe achieved record sales and profit results across regions, contributing the most to the Canon Inc. group's revenue.

During the successful 36-year career at Ryoichi Bamba, he worked with Hajime Tsuruoka in Tokyo and Europe for several years. Previously, he worked in product marketing at Canon Europe and was responsible for the office equipment business at Canon Italy as Director and General Manager.

Recently, a record number of copier sales have been made in the United States, achieving the largest market share among the regions of the global Canon Group in the region. “Canon Europe is a highly successful European organization, backed by record financial results in 2007. It is my job to build on this success to forge closer threads between Canon Europe, Canon Inc. and other global regions. In addition to the above, another goal is to help the subsidiary I represent to become a truly world-class organization, ”said Ryoichi Bamba, the new President and CEO of Canon Europe.

Ryoichi Bamba will be replaced by Tamotsu Nakamura, Executive Vice President of Canon USA and General Manager of the Imaging Systems Group, who has previously served as Managing Director of Canon Canada.