PLEASANTON, Calif.—To maximize its growing presence and accelerate growth in key emerging markets, contact lens manufacturer CooperVision, Inc. (NYSE:COO) will establish a new operating region. Effective Nov.1, 2012 the new operating unit will include the fast growing economies of India, Pakistan, the Middle East, Turkey, Russia and Africa.

“We want to capitalize on the strong support we see for our branded products in these markets and continue to refine our commercial approach to both the vision care professionals and the consumers. This organizational investment will allow us to blend the success we have had in more established markets with regional buying behaviors,” said Dennis Murphy, executive vice president of global sales and marketing for CooperVision, which is based in Pleasanton, Calif. “Creating a dedicated regional management team will focus resources and localized strategies to increase product adoption while providing the best solutions for vision correction.”

Michael Wilkinson, CooperVision’s current vice president of marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has been named general manager for the new region. He joined CooperVision in 2006 as general manager for the UK and Ireland, and previously held roles with Parfums Givenchy and Gillette.