O’Connor’s previous regional and global roles include director of corporate comms for BT Asia-Pacific; vice-president external affairs at BT Worldwide and chief comms officer at PCCW, the Hong Kong-based comms and technology group.
He has also worked as a consultant with multinationals including Vodafone, Coca-Cola, Electrolux and Eli Lilly.
Alastair Turner, global group director at Aspectus PR, said: "We are already operating in this region for our international clients. It is the engine of growth for many of them and, as such, we must be there to support them.
"As a specialist player we believe we are also well positioned to help regional businesses with international ambitions within our core markets."