HONG KONG -- CIENA Corporation, (NASDAQ: CIEN - news) today announced that it will open a new office in Hong Kong and that Claude Achcar has joined CIENA to direct the company's sales operations in Asian markets outside of Japan, where CIENA already has an established presence. From the new Hong Kong office, Mr. Achcar will serve as CIENA's Vice President, Asia, managing new business initiatives and customer accounts, and increasing CIENA's global presence to keep pace with the growth and demand for its intelligent optical networking systems.

"CIENA is a significant player in the Japanese optical networking systems market and continues to build their presence in Korea. The addition of local staff in Hong Kong illustrates CIENA's continued commitment to Asia as an important market going forward," said Matt Walker, Regional Director, Asia-Pacific, at telecommunications market research firm RHK.

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