She will report to Randy Weddle, MD for IHT Asia-Pacific, who commented:"Helena started at the IHT nearly 20 years ago as the assistant to the circulation director and gained deep knowledge of the media business in Asia as her career progressed. I've yet to meet anyone who understands the complexities of circulation as well as Helena."
Phua, who was circulation and development director for nine years, grew the newspaper's circulation by 48 per cent in that period and improved the print site’s network in the region through alliances in Japan and Korea.