Wal-Mart Stores announced the appointment of Vicente Trius to executive vp, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Asia, International, effective Feb. 1.

Trius will lead Wal-Mart’s retail operations in Asia, which has retail units in Japan and China and more than 82,000 associates. The company also has a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises in India.

Trius joined Wal-Mart in 1996 as vp-operations in the international division and was promoted to president and CEO of Wal-Mart Brazil in 1997. Succeeding him will be Hector Nunez, who will take over the position effective Feb. 1.

“Wal-Mart already has a successful business in Asia,” said Trius. “I am looking forward to building upon this success,” he added.

Wal-Mart has had operations in China since 1996 with 101 name units and has minority shareholding in Trust-Mart, which has 102 units. The company also operates the Japanese company Seiyu, which has 364 units.